Westnewton is a small rural village three and a half miles from the Solway coast at Allonby and eight miles west of the market town of Wigton. Recent excavations have shown that at one time the village was occupied by the Romans. Certainly a Roman road went through the village, and their are the remains of a Roman fort.
     In more recent years the village has had its own castle (or Manor House) but little remains of it today and historical evidence is regretfully non-existent.
     Most of the houses around are inclined to be 19th century and onwards, though the beautifully restored Yew Tree Farm is dated 1672.
     A native of the village John Todd having made his money as a Manchester merchant, invested a great deal of his time and money in the village in the mid 1800's. He provided the wherewithal for the building of St Matthew's church, along with the school, school house, vicarage and four alms houses.
     Westnewton was Cumbria's best kept small village in 1990, 1991, and 1993 and also the winner of the small village section of the Britain in Bloom competition in 1991.