ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury designate Dr Rowan Williams says he will be sad to leave behind his home of the past ten years when he leaves Newport.

"I'm going to miss Newport," said the Archbishop of Wales, who will soon be living in Lambeth Palace. "I have come to love it here."

He and his family moved to the area from Oxford a decade ago after he was elected Bishop of Monmouth.

Speaking over lunch in Vittorio's in Stow Hill, a favourite restaurant near his present home, Dr Williams said he had enjoyed being part of the community. "I'm going to miss the schools, that has been a big part of the job."

He was hoping to have the chance to still have those sort of relationships even in his challenging new role.

"I'm going to have to work to try to make some space for it. I think I would dry up if I didn't have that."

He added: "I don't want to lose contact with communities but recognise that actual space in the diary is going to be a bit less."

As Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams said he would like to see a proper strategy for the growth of new churches.

"I would like to see the Christian faith recapturing the imagination of society." He is planning one big break with tradition by retaining his usual black clothing for everyday wear instead of switching to the purple favoured by previous archbishops.

Dr Williams admitted he would feel uneasy wearing purple garments as it made bishops "look different" from the rest of the clergy.

"Purple also has imperial associations which doesn't seem completely appropriate. I'm more comfortable dressing as a priest."

He will don official vestments for church services. "That's different as I have a job to do." Dr Williams will be enthroned in a service at the end of February which is being televised. He will be seen on our screens before that in a BBC 2 programme, An Archbishop Like This, which followed him for six months and is due to be shown on December 1.

PICTURED: Dr Williams and his wife Jane.