Newnham or Newnham on Severn is a village in west Gloucestershire, England. It depends on the Royal Forest of Dean, on the west bank of the River Severn, about 10 miles south-west of Gloucester as well as three miles southeast of Cinderford. It gets on the A48 road in between Gloucester and Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales. The town has a parish council. A parish church was established in the 14th century (although there had actually been a church of simplicity since 1018), and also in 1366 a new church structure was improved the high ground of the village as the old one faced disintegration from the river. The new building has itself been damaged by a gunpowder surge in 1644 throughout the English Civil War and also a fire in 1881, but is still being used. As a result of Newnham's location on the Severn, the Old Romans built three roads via the area, where they forded the river. The Anglo-Saxons established a long-term settlement, the Normans developed a motte-and-bailey stronghold for support, as well as in middle ages times it came to be a significant port with web links around Great Britain and also Ireland. In 1171, Henry II of England staged an invasion of Ireland from Newnham. One account declared that he set sail with 400 ships and also 5,000 men, which recommends its value as a port. Temporarily Newnham was the most effective Gloucestershire community west of the Severn. Its duty as a port and trading center declined, nevertheless, quickly with the 1827 opening of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. In 1810, a very early attempt at a Severn tunnel started building and construction just southern of Newnham. Job was abandoned after flooding in 1812. The civil parish becomes part of Newnham and also Westbury electoral ward. This ward begins 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.