In 1875, a group of local men founded the Guild of St John the Baptist, under the leadership of Mr F J Mitchell of Llanfrechfa Grange. He bought a site on Stow Hill, where St John the Baptist Mission Church was subsequently built.

In 1876, Mr Mitchell was instrumental in inviting the Sisters of the Community of St John the Baptist, Clewer (a district of Windsor) to undertake mission work in Newport. Two Sisters arrived in March 1877 and began work. One of them, Sister Selina, was to stay nearly forty years. They lived first in Dorset Place, Stow Hill, but this soon proved too small for their work, and in 1880 they moved to a new Mission House in Victoria Place. Just over a year later they moved again, to two houses in Severn Terrace, where they stayed for 26 years.

The need for larger premises sprang from the growing number of children the Sisters cared for. These were girls, aged between 4 and 11. They were not orphans, but children from inadequate homes, including some who had been ill-treated or abused. The Sisters took them in to what was known first as the Children's Refuge and later St John Baptist Home. They cared for over 50 girls at a time. There were also the 'blue boys and girls'. These were not residents in the home, but local children too poor to come to church or Sunday School as. they had nothing decent to wear. So the Sisters lent them a set of blue clothes every week to enable them to do so.

Eventually, a separate parish of St John the Baptist was formed, and the new parish church on Risca Road opened in May 1900. It became possible to build a new Mission House, the money for the building having been raised through the vigorous efforts of the Sister Foundress, and the generous donation of her many friends on land next to the Vicarage, designed by H J Griggs, A.R.I.B.A., architect and surveyor, Surveyor for Diocese of Monmouth. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Tredegar in September 1906, and in December 1907 the house was officially opened and blessed by the Bishop of the diocese. Starting in the chapel (the exterior of which is still visible), the procession went from room to room - laundry, work-room, children's playroom, refectory etc - while Psalms 91 and 121 were recited; 

Thou shalt not be afraid/or any terror by night ... He shall give his angels charge over thee ... The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: yea it is he that shall keep thee safe.

The girls were not only given a home, but trained for work suiting their station in life (according to the ethos of those days). This meant that many of them went into domestic service. The Sisters were also responsible for St John's Preparatory & High School, built in 1901 next to the new parish church, on the site where Homevalley House now stands. The school had some boarders, who also lived at the Mission House, but separate from the girls in the Children's Home.

Parish magazines of 100 years ago carried the information, The Sisters of the Community of St. John the Baptist are entrusted with the relief of the Sick and Poor b the days before the welfare reforms before and after the second world war, this was vital work, and took up a lot of the Sisters' time and energy.

In 1915, Sister Selina and Sister Elise Jane were recalled to Clewer, because of their advancing years and infirmity. The grief in the parish was great, and a stained glass window was subscribed for in thankfulness for their work here - since 1877, in Sister Selina's case, and only 5 years less in the case of her assistant. This is the second window in the north aisle (over the children's corner), and depicts the birth of Christ and scenes from his childhood. 

Following the Sisters' withdrawal in 1940, the former Mission House was occupied by American troops. In 1943, it was badly damaged by fire. After the war it was bough by local builder Thomas Hill. In 1947 permission was granted to convert the Mission House into two houses and 22 Flats, and in May 1949, he was also granted permission to erect 12 lock-up garages. He also built six bungalows (Clewer Court Mews).

Happily, the original building was retained: it remains one of the finest buildings in Newport. Happily, too, the name Clewer Court retains a link with the origins of the building, as the Mission House and Children's Home run by the Sisters of the Community of St John the Baptist, Clewer - where the Community still has its mother house.

LEASE - The Leasehold Advisory Service provide free advice on residential leasehold law. They are an independent body, and we only advise leaseholders and park home owners. All of their advisers are legally qualified. LEASE is governed by a board, appointed as individuals by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

A Guide to Directors' Duties and Responsibilities - This useful guide from the ICAEW provides an overview of directors' duties and responsibilities, including on internal governance, transactions between a company and its directors or shareholders, and corporate administration. It also covers responsibilities in relation to insolvent or financially challenged companies, as well as penalties for breach of directors' responsibilities.

The Federation of Private Residents’ Associations - The FRPA are a not-for-profit lease advice, support and lobbying organisation for private residential leaseholders, tenants’ and residents’ associations, Residential Management Companies and Flat Management Companies.

Companies House listing for Clewer Court Residents Ltd - Overview, Filing History, People

Companies Act 2006

Newport City Council  656 656

South Wales Fire & Rescue Service - Free 'Safe & Well' visits to your home. This will be carried out by firefighters from your local Fire Station and their Home Safety Team. The visit takes about 30 minutes and they will provide and install free smoke alarms, heat detectors and carbon monoxide alarms where risk is identified. Alarms for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing are also available.

Gas Emergencies Remember, if you smell gas, call them free on 0800 111 999

Flat Living - Information, products and services for flat owners and residents' management companies

Lifeline - Newport City Council works in partnership with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council to provide the Lifeline Alarm Service. 

The service runs 24 hours a day, every day and is available to residents of Newport who live in their own homes or who rent privately. 

The Lifeline alarm service provides you with:

• a Lifeline alarm unit
• a pendant alarm button
• free installation
• maintenance and repairs
• a replacement unit if faulty
• regular equipment checks
• 24 hours a day cover via Merthyr’s emergency control centre

Priority Services Register  

Did you know that every gas, water and electricity supplier – the companies you pay your bills to, and your electricity distribution network, has what’s called a Priority Services Register (PSR)? This register helps utility companies to make sure they look after those who need it most.

Who can join the PSR?

Households who have:

someone aged 60 or over living at the property
someone under the age of 5 living with them
someone who is living with a chronic medical condition or is registered disabled
any other specific needs such as sight or hearing impairments

If you would like to have access to additional services from your energy supplier, you simply need to sign up to the Priority Services Register through your current supplier. You can also ask your supplier to forward your details to your network operator if you are dependent on a consistent energy supply for medical reasons.

Clewer Court Residents Ltd is a Residents' Management Company (company registration number 01519055).

What is an RMC?

Records suggest that there are over 60,000 registered RMCs and a high proportion relate to flats. The highest concentrations are in the South East, South Coast, Bristol & Bath areas, Home Counties, South Midlands and the North West.

A RMC protects the interests of the leaseholders. RMC’s typically manage common parts of the building although they may have other responsibilities. Clewer Court has parts common to all the flat owners living in it: boundaries, roofs, halls, drives and gardens etc. These all require maintenance, insurance, lighting, etc.

Monies for day to day requirements is collected within your service charge requests. However, additional monies may be required for larger projects, i.e. replacement roof. The individual flat owners fund these costs, often by making periodic contributions into a reserve (sink) fund.

The Clewer Court RMC is run by directors, who are unpaid and appointed by and from the residents.

The RMC has a Memorandum and Articles of Association specially drawn up to allow the company to own, manage and administer Clewer Court, which is divided into several dwelling units and flats, with each leaseholder owning a share in the company. The leaseholder is obliged to transfer the ownership of the share to the new leaseholder when disposing of the property.

The characteristics of RMC’s

The majority of RMC’s are limited by share, although some blocks favour limitation by guarantee.

A formalised RMC is very different from an informal residents association: it carries legal status and offers greater protection to all involved.

Although Property Law regulates matters related to long leasehold tenure, Company Law regulates the setting-up and operation of flat management companies.