NEWPORT, market town, municipal borough, the chief town of the Isle of Wight, England. Pop. (1931) 11,313. It is situated near the centre of the island, at the head of the navigation of the Medina river, 5 m. S. from its mouth at Cowes. It is the chief cen tre of the railway system of the island. The church of St. Thomas of Canterbury was rebuilt in 1854 in the Decorated style. The guildhall, erected in 1816, includes the town-hall in the upper story with the market-place below. There are a corn exchange and museum. The grammar school was founded in 1612, and there is a blue-coat school for girls founded in 1761. The Albany barracks and Parkhurst prison lie north of the town. A considerable trade is carried on in timber, malt, wheat and flour. It is supposed that Newport (Neuport) was a Roman settlement, then known as Medina. There are no traces of Saxon occupation, and no evidence that Newport became a borough before the reign of Henry II.
The first charter was granted by Richard de Redvers between and 1184, and confirmed in 1349 by Edward III. and afterwards by successive kings. The borough was incorporated by James I. in 1607, and a second charter of incorporation granted by Charles I. in 1637 is that by which Newport was governed until 1835. It was represented in parliament in 1295, but no other return was made until 1584, when it regularly sent two members. From 1867 to 1885 it sent one but in 1885 its representation was merged in that of the island. A fair was formerly held on Whit-Monday, the two following days and the three Saturdays nearest Whitsuntide. The Saturday market dates from 1184, and there is a Wednesday cattle market. Owing to its facilities for trade, Newport early super seded Carisbrooke as the capital of the island.