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Website Last Updated 27th June 2022
Bishton Community Council
Bishton Community Council (Welsh : Cyngor Cymuned Trefesgob) covers the three villages of Underwood, Bishton and Wilcrick. Located on the eastern side of the City of Newport, on the border with Monmouthshire, our Community has a mixture of urban and rural characteristics. The area forms part of the newly formed Bishton & Langstone electoral district (ward) and contains the eastern end of Llanwern Steelworks, the relatively modern Underwood estate and two historic villages of Bishton and Wilcrick. The total population of the community is estimated at about 2200.
Underwood was originally a substantial housing estate built by the local authority in the early 1960s, partly to provide accommodation and services for people working at the newly-opened steelworks at Llanwern. Underwood has a primary school, playing fields and play areas, allotments, a grocery- post office, a pharmacy, other shops, a Baptist church, the Iscoed Tafarn public house, and adjacent health and community centres.
A mile from Underwood is the village of Bishton whose historic name was “Bishop’s Town”. It is a linear village dating back to the post-Roman period when it was a centre for the Bishops of Llandaff. It has a strong association with Cadwaladr the Blessed, the last Welsh king to claim sovereignty of Britain. Cadwaladr later became a Welsh Christian Saint and Bishton’s Church is named after him, one of only three in Wales. Key features of Bishton today are St Cadwaladr’s Church, the former Primary School (now the village hall), a number of houses dating from the 17th/18th centuries together with more recent dwellings including several converted from agricultural barns. Its population is about 150.
Wilcrick is now a very small village (population about 30) a mile or so from Bishton and just to the west of Magor. It was formerly a much larger settlement, served by its Church (St Mary the Virgin) located on the lower slope of the former Iron Age hillfort on Wilcrick Hill which is a major local feature.
To read more about these villages, please click here.
Latest Bishton Community Council and Coronavirus News
BCC facilities have re-opened for use after WG Guidance has been amended and restrictions lifted. However, should there be another drastic increase in infections restrictions may be re-instated.
BCC Face to Face meetings
BCC has reverted to face to face meetings after the lifting of the COVID 19. WG regulations state we should also offer the possibility for our public to attend meetings online and we are taking steps to ensure this can happen. The Council will continue to hold video conference meetings to maintain Council business and we will announce, via our meeting Agenda, when & where face to face meetings will take place. There will also be occasions when meeting will be held via zoom only, this will also be announced when the meeting agenda is published.
For further information of forthcoming meetings please see our Meetings, Agendas and Minutes web page.
Underwood Community Centre Extension
In March 2022, work was finally completed to construct an extension to Underwood Community Centre. Funding for the construction was secured via capital claims schemes provided by the Rural Community Development Fund (Welsh Government), the European Union Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe Investing in Rural Areas and the Big Lottery Fund.
The additional 160m2 of space has been created for a new community gym. Active Underwood will pay a rental fee to BCC for use of the extension and profit made from the gym membership will be distributed by Active Underwood into other community projects e.g. the Park Project.
See details of project on the Underwood Community Centre Project page.