Newtown: Town Walk 1

Distance: 1-2 miles 
Duration: 1-2 hours
 
Starting at the main car park in Back Lane next to the Bus station cross the road at the Zebra Crossing and passing Argos continue up Wesley Street past the Robert Owen Bronze.
 
Turn right into Broad Street and walk past the Council Chambers building. (The Free Library building at the top of the street houses the Robert Owen Museum, they were donated £1000 towards its building by the Co-operative Union in commemoration of Robert Owen inspiring the Co-operative Movement in with his works in 1799and through out his life.)
 
Turn right into High Street, past WH Smith,(this shop has been restored to the original 1927 façade with a museum upstairs recreating their history)
Carry on down the street past the 17th century Buck Inn (a 17th century house that has become a public house by the end of the 19th century,)
 
Cross the road and follow the path through the park winding to the left taking you past the Castle Mound (a 13th century motte and bailey forte protecting the southern approaches of the ‘New Town’)
 
Turn left into Park Street and then right into New Church Street where you can see evidence of the ‘competitive 19th century chapel building’. 
Carry on past St Davids Church (St Davids church was opened in 1847 to replace St Marys because of the serious flooding in the 1840s, it reflected the growing prestige and prosperity of the town)
 
Carry on towards the station which was built in 1868 in the Victorian Gothic style. Across from the station is Pryce- Jones Royal Welsh Warehouse (Pryce –Jones ran the first ever mail order business from this building, many of the destinations are still recorded on the façade of the building)
 
Turn left into Old Kerry Road and cross into Short Bridge Street with the Bridge Wall (The Bridge Wall was built in 1826 as a defence against regular flooding that occurred) 
 
Ahead of you is Robert Owen Park, with a statue of the great reformer (unveiled on the 21st May 1956, along with a bronze relief, to commemorate Owens practical socialism.)
 
Follow the path up Gas Street to the Ha’penny Bridge (Built to replace a bridge 40 metres upstream, sometimes called Kings Bridge as Mr King was the toll keeper and had a little cubby hole on the town side of the bridge), keeping to the town side of the river walk along to the old church.
 
Look inside St Marys Churchyard for the mausoleum of the Pryce family and Robert Owen’s tomb.
Continue along the river to towards Longbridge, follow the path past the Regent Cinema with Dolerw Park on your right, stay on this path and return to the car park.