New Passage

New Passage is a small hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England located on the banks of the Severn estuary near the village of Pilning. It derives its name from the ferry service which operated between there and South Wales before the late 19th century, when it lost out in competition with the Aust Ferry slightly upstream.

Because the estuary is narrow at this point, New Passage has long been the location for a ferry crossing to and from South Wales. During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert was chased across the river, and the pursuing Roundheads drowned on the English Stones rocks after being assured by the ferryman of the safety of the crossing.

By the end of the 17th century, ferry crossings from here to Black Rock near Portskewett in Monmouthshire rivalled the Aust ferry two miles (3 km) upstream, known as the "Old Passage", where crossings had been made for centuries. In 1715 the New Passage ferry service was taken over and developed by the Lewis family of St. Pierre, Monmouthshire, allowing it to be used by mail and passenger coaches between Bristol and south Wales. Records show Charles Wesley had a lucky escape in 1743, when his ship almost foundered in stormy weather.

In 1825 the New Passage Association formed, using the 30-ton steamboat "St Pierre". However, the sponsorship by the Dukes of Beaufort of the Aust route, with faster boats and a pier, meant that by 1830 mail coaches were diverted there, and the New Passage declined. In 1863 the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway was opened, using the New Passage ferry to cross the Severn to Portskewett. The New Passage Hotel, a promenade, tea rooms, and a 594-yard (543 m) railway pier, set the area up for prosperity. One year earlier, an engineer engaged on building the pier had the idea of a tunnel under the river. In 1886, the Severn Tunnel opened and the New Passage ferry became redundant. The railway tunnel passes under the River Severn from a point just south of New Passage.

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