At the end of the 13th century, Edward I commissioned Roger de Montgomery to construct a centre for the hamlet of Llanfair-yng-Nghedewain. Situated near a River Severn ford below the Long Bridge and close to the church of St Mary in Bettws Cedewain gave Newtown its original Welsh name. The town grew in the 18th and 19th centuries around the textile and flannel industry, accompanied by the completion of the Montgomeryshire Canal. In 1838, the town saw Wales's first Chartist demonstration.