Newtown and district
Victorian maps
  Newtown in 1903  
 

The map below is a section of a map made at a scale of 6 inches = 1 mile in 1903. The map shows some of the changes which have come to the town during the long reign of Queen Victoria.

 
  1. The map shows a gas works where coal gas is made by heating up coal so that it gives off gas. This was then used for street lighting and in the home in gas cookers and gas lights. The coming of the railway made the coal cheaper to transport into the town.  
  2. The map shows new schools in the town in 1903 (all marked 2 here). Although there were schools in the town at the time of the tithe map, by the end of Queen Victoria's reign all children received an education and had to go to school . This began to offer children better opportunities at work when they left school.  
  3. Industry has grown in Newtown since 1845. 3 new factories are marked here: the Cambrian and Kymric flannel mills and the tannery by the river.  
  4. The railway has come to Newtown. This meant local produce could be sold in towns all over Britain. It also meant that cheap goods from outside were sold locally putting some local craftsmen out of business. The railway also made the possibility of travel much more widely available.  
 

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