Newnham or Newnham on Severn is a village in west Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Royal Forest of Dean, on the west financial institution of the River Severn, about 10 miles south-west of Gloucester and 3 miles southeast of Cinderford. It is on the A48 road in between Gloucester and Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales. The village has a parish council. A parish church was established in the 14th century (although there had actually been a chapel of simplicity since 1018), and in 1366 a new church building was improved the high ground of the town as the old one encountered erosion from the river. The brand-new structure has itself been damaged by a gunpowder surge in 1644 throughout the English Civil War and also a fire in 1881, however is still being used. As a result of Newnham's area on the Severn, the Old Romans constructed three roads via the place, where they forded the river. The Anglo-Saxons established a permanent negotiation, the Normans built a motte-and-bailey fortification for support, and in middle ages times it became a major port with links around Great Britain and also Ireland. In 1171, Henry II of England staged an invasion of Ireland from Newnham. One account claimed that he set out with 400 ships as well as 5,000 men, which suggests its significance as a port. Temporarily Newnham was one of the most effective Gloucestershire town west of the Severn. Its function as a port and trading center declined, nevertheless, swiftly with the 1827 opening of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. In 1810, an early attempt at a Severn tunnel started construction simply south of Newnham. Work was abandoned after flooding in 1812. The civil parish belongs to Newnham as well as Westbury selecting ward. This ward begins in the north at Westbury-on-Severn and then adheres to the River Severn to Newnham. The overall population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 3,088.