After more than two decades unearthing the town’s treasures the Newport History Society celebrates 25 years in the town.
The society, founded in 1983 by Ray Edwards, has had a string of success with fascinating finds from behind the town’s Guildhall.
As part of the celebration a display of their finds from as early as the 1300s will be on show along with other materials from the Roman to civil war period and 17th century.
Ray said he is proud of how the simple idea of a small history society has grown into a serious group who have dug up some exquisite finds.
“I was always interested in the history of Newport, even as a young boy. Three or four of us used to get together and go on field trips and then we thought about setting up a small society and it rapidly grew into what it is today.
“I’m very pleased that the idea worked and I have great respect for the work that has been done,” he said.
Today it is headed by Paul Webster and president Tavia Maclean – who has been a member for the 23 years.
Tavia said: “There has been a lot of work done in the past five years. We can’t dig anymore but we do a lot of field walks and some of the finds have been great.
“When the peat ground is very dry and then it suddenly rains, it brings a lot of things to the surface that you can just pick up by walking along.
“But at present we are researching folklore writer Charlotte Burne (1850-1923). We had a call from someone in London to say she used to live in Summer Hill in Edgmond. She was the president of the Folklore Society of England.”
The celebration is on Saturday, September 13, at Newport Guildhall from 10am - 4pm.
Visitors can bring their own archeological finds which can be identified by finds liaison officer for Shropshire and Herefordshire, Peter Reavill.
