Newport, market town and par. with ry. sta., Shropshire, on Shrewsbury Canal, 11 miles SW. of Stafford, 17 ½ miles NE. of Shrewsbury, and 141 miles NW. of London, 566 ac., pop. 3044; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks, 1 newspaper. Marketday, Saturday. The town has a pleasant situation near the border of Staffordshire. It is a place of considerable antiquity, and was incorporated as early as the reign of Henry I. It has a town hall, a market house, and corn exchange, a grammar school (1656), and several charitable institutions. Mfrs. of machinery and agricultural implements employ some of the inhabitants. Considerable trade is carried on with neighbouring collieries, iron mines, and limestone quarries; and in addition to the weekly market, live-stock markets are held on alternate Tuesdays.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))