NEWPORT, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in Saffron-Walden district, Essex. The village stands on the river Cam, the Eastern Counties railway, and the Roman road to Cambridge, 3 miles S S W of Saffron-Walden; was anciently called Newport-Pond, from a large pool at the S end of its street; had anciently a castle; had also an hospital, founded in the time of King John by Richard de Newport, and dedicated to St. Leonard; and has now a post-office‡ under Bishop-Stortford, a railway station, and fairs on Easter-Tuesday and 17 and 18 Nov. The parish comprises 1, 714 acres. Real property, £3, 712. Pop., 886. Houses, 198. The property is divided chiefly among three. The manor belonged, in the time of Edward the Confessor, to Earl Harold; and, with Shortgrove House, belongs now to W.Smith, Esq. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £260.* Patron, the Bishop of Rochester. The church stands in the highest part of the village; is later English; consists of nave, aisles, transepts, and chancel, with lofty turretted tower; and has been thoroughly restored. There are an Independent chapel, a national school, an endowed grammar-school with £290 a year, and charities £53.—The sub-district contains also eight other parishes. Acres, 18, 696. Pop., 5,040. Houses, 1, 111.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))