NEWTON ABBOT and NEWTON BUSHEL, situated respectively in the parishes of Wolborough and High week, and separated by the small river Lemon, are generally included under the one name Newton Abbot, a markettown of Devonshire, England, on the Teign, 5 miles south by west of Teignmouth, and 6 north of Torquay. The beauty of the neighbouring scenery and the salubrity of the climate have tended of late years to increase the demand for residences, while the situation of the town at the head of the Teign navigation enables it to carry on a considerable shipping trade. St Mary’s, the parish church of Wolborough, about half a mile south of the town, is in the Perpendicular style, as is also the parish church of Highweek, about a mile to the north-west. A very extensive nunnery, called St Augustine’s Priory, was erected near the town in 1861. To the east of the town is Forde House, an Elizabethan structure belonging to the earl of Devon, visited by Charles I. and William of Orange. The other principal buildings are the union workhouse, the town-hall, and the markets. There are two fine public parks, Courtenay Park and Forde Park. The town possesses iron foundries, malt-houses, flour-mills, a tannery, and a brewery. The engine-works of the Great Western Railway have lately been established in the town. Fine potters’ clay and pipeclay are obtained in the neighbourhood, about 6000 tons being exported annually to the potteries. There is a considerable trade in cattle, corn, and agricultural produce. The population of Wolborough with Newton Abbot in 1881 was 7662, and of Highweek 2164....
Probably both Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel were originally included under Nuietone. Newton Abbot was given to the abbot of Tor by William Lord Brewer, founder of the monastery. Newton Bushel was so called from Robert Bussell or Bushell, foster-child and kinsman of Theobald de Englishville, who was made lord of the manor by Henry III. in 1246.
NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS,oγNewton-in-Makeefield, a township and urban sanitary district of Lancashire, is situated on a branch of the London and North-Western Railway between Liverpool and Manchester, about 15f miles from each. The original town of Newton consists principally of one broad street, but many new buildings have sprung up in the immediate neighbourhood, especially at Earlestown junction, about half a mile distant. There is a town-hall, a mechanics’ institute, and a grammar school. At a short distance from the town is a moated timber-house, and also an ancient barrow of great extent. The Liverpool farm reformatory school is in the neighbourhood. The industrial establishments include the waggon factory of the London and North-Western Railway Company (employing about 1000 hands), a large foundry, printing and stationery works, paper-mills, and sugar refineries. Coal abounds in the neighbourhood. The barony is mentioned as being possessed by Edward the Confessor, but after the Conquest it was given to the Langtons. Near the town a party of Highlanders were in 1648 taken prisoners by Cromwell’s troops, and hanged in an adjoining wood, still called Gallow’s Cross. The town possessed the privilege of returning two members to parliament from the 5th of Elizabeth, but was disfranchised in 1832. The population of the urban sanitary district in 1871 was 8244, and in 1881 it was 10,580.
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