I was in Newtown in Powys the other day with time to kill before my next appointment so I wondered round, which didn't take long, then I saw signs to Robert Owens tomb. I didn't know the name so I bumbled over in the general direction of the sign.
There's a very ruinous church of St Mary. The grave stones have been taken up and set along side the path around the inside the church & there's graffiti & damage to a large tomb within. It's bit of a mess quite frankly and all looks rather sad. However........go outside the church and there is the renovated tomb of Robert Owen that is in much better nick than its surroundings.
I hadn't heard of him though from this grave somebody had! He died in 1858, his grand tomb put in place in 1902 and restored to its former glory in 1993 ( there's a plaque stating this, unveiled by Labour MP Ann Clwyd)
He was one of the great social reformers of Victorian Britain. Born in 1771 in Newtown, moving to Manchester he was employed in the mills and eventually owned a mill in Lanarkshire. Unlike alot of mill owners he looked after his employee's. A shop he opened for his workers sold products at little more than cost, he brought in bulk and passed on his saving to his customers. He was undoubtedly a supporter of workers rights and helped the plight of the poor, he was also instrumental in the Cooperative movement. He died on 17th November 1858 in the Bear Hotel in Newtown, a man of the people if ever there was one.
There's a very ruinous church of St Mary. The grave stones have been taken up and set along side the path around the inside the church & there's graffiti & damage to a large tomb within. It's bit of a mess quite frankly and all looks rather sad. However........go outside the church and there is the renovated tomb of Robert Owen that is in much better nick than its surroundings.
I hadn't heard of him though from this grave somebody had! He died in 1858, his grand tomb put in place in 1902 and restored to its former glory in 1993 ( there's a plaque stating this, unveiled by Labour MP Ann Clwyd)
He was one of the great social reformers of Victorian Britain. Born in 1771 in Newtown, moving to Manchester he was employed in the mills and eventually owned a mill in Lanarkshire. Unlike alot of mill owners he looked after his employee's. A shop he opened for his workers sold products at little more than cost, he brought in bulk and passed on his saving to his customers. He was undoubtedly a supporter of workers rights and helped the plight of the poor, he was also instrumental in the Cooperative movement. He died on 17th November 1858 in the Bear Hotel in Newtown, a man of the people if ever there was one.
The man himself.
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| View of the River Severn at Newtown. |
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