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Text for rear of book
Old Newbarns (Newbarns Village and the townfields), from its earliest history was a community full of surprises.
By rights Newbarns Village should not exist. If it hadn’t been for a rather unpleasant incident, which occurred on December 16th 1516, the village would never have seen the light of day.
The first villagers lived in what were little more than single room hovels, eventually replaced by more substantial stone built properties, a number of which can still be seen today. Among these is an early 19th century Squatter’s Cottage and a former farmhouse with an ‘outshut’.
One interesting character born in the village narrowly avoided the gallows after being charged with forgery. His wealthy father was forced to sell most of his properties to pay his son’s substantial defence costs. The son turned his life around becoming a well respected figure in Liverpool.
As farmland was sold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, not only were numerous large houses built on the fields around the village, a racecourse was also constructed. A prominent figure who owned one of the houses (now Michaelson House) was Sir Jonah Walker-Smith; Civil Engineer, author, Barrister, MP and one of the names in Hitler’s Little Black Book. Remarkably two other properties were owned by the families of two soldiers awarded the Victoria Cross (one posthumously) for acts of outstanding bravery during WWI.
And the village can boast that for a number of years it had its own Mayor and Town Council which met regularly in the Farmers Arms, or Town Hall as it was known.
Once described as an ‘obscure village in a remote corner of England’, Newbarns has much of interest waiting to be discovered. Hopefully all will be in Old Newbarns. A History of Newbarns Village and the Development of the Townfields.
