Newnham or Newnham on Severn is a town in west Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Royal Woodland of Dean, on the west bank of the River Severn, roughly 10 miles south-west of Gloucester and also three miles southeast of Cinderford. It is on the A48 road between Gloucester as well as Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales. The town has a parish council. A parish church was developed in the 14th century (although there had been a chapel of simplicity given that 1018), and also in 1366 a brand-new church structure was built on the high ground of the village as the old one encountered erosion from the river. The new building has itself been harmed by a gunpowder explosion in 1644 throughout the English Civil War and also a fire in 1881, but is still in operation. Due to Newnham's location on the Severn, the Old Romans built 3 roads through the location, where they forded the river. The Anglo-Saxons established a long-term settlement, the Normans constructed a motte-and-bailey fortification for support, and in medieval times it came to be a significant port with web links around Great Britain and Ireland. In 1171, Henry II of England presented an invasion of Ireland from Newnham. One account asserted that he set out with 400 ships as well as 5,000 men, which recommends its relevance as a port. For a while Newnham was the most successful Gloucestershire town west of the Severn. Its role as a port and also trading hub decreased, nevertheless, rapidly with the 1827 opening of the Gloucester as well as Sharpness Canal. In 1810, a very early attempt at a Severn tunnel started construction simply southern of Newnham. Job was deserted after flooding in 1812. The civil parish belongs to Newnham and Westbury electoral ward. This ward starts in the north at Westbury-on-Severn and then complies with the River Severn to Newnham. The complete population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 3,088.