Newport, Wales

Newport Castle in 1784

Bronze Age fishermen settled around the fertile estuary of the River Usk and later the Celtic Silures built hillforts overlooking it. In AD 75, on the very edge of their empire, the Roman legions built a Roman fort at Caerleon to defend the river crossing. According to legend, in the late 5th century Saint Gwynllyw (Woolos), the patron saint of Newport and King of Gwynllwg founded the church which would become Newport Cathedral. The church was certainly in existence by the 9th century and today has become the seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. In 1049/50, a fleet of Orkney Vikings, under Welsh king Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, sailed up the Usk and sacked St Gwynllyw's church.[21][22] The church suffered a similar fate in 1063, when Harold Godwinson attacked south Wales.[23][24] The Normans arrived from around 1088–1093 to build the first Newport Castle and river crossing downstream from Caerleon and the first Norman Lord of Newport was Robert Fitzhamon.

The original Newport Castle was a small motte-and-bailey castle in the park opposite Newport Cathedral. It was buried in rubble excavated from the Hillfield railway tunnels that were dug under Stow Hill in the 1840s and no part of it is currently visible.[25]

Newport Castle, on the west bank of the River Usk

Around the settlement, the new town grew to become Newport, obtaining its first charter in 1314[26] and was granted a second one, by Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford in 1385. In the 14th century friars came to Newport where they built an isolation hospital for infectious diseases. After its closure the hospital lived on in the place name "Spitty Fields" (a corruption of ysbyty, the Welsh for hospital).[27] "Austin Friars" also remains a street name in the city.

During the Last War for Welsh Independence in 1402 Rhys Gethin, General for Owain Glyndŵr, forcibly took Newport Castle together with those at Cardiff, Llandaff, Abergavenny, Caerphilly, Caerleon and Usk.[28] During the raid the town of Newport was badly burned and Saint Woolos church destroyed.

A third charter, establishing the right of the town to run its own market and commerce came from Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham in 1426. By 1521, Newport was described as having "....a good haven coming into it, well occupied with small crays [merchant ships] where a very great ship may resort and have good harbour." Trade was thriving with the nearby ports of Bristol and Bridgwater and industries included leather tanning, soap making and starch making.[27] The town's craftsmen included bakers, butchers, brewers, carpenters and blacksmiths. A further charter was granted by James I in 1623.

During the English Civil War in 1648 Oliver Cromwell's troops camped overnight on Christchurch Hill overlooking the town before their attack on the castle the next day. A cannonball dug up from a garden in nearby Summerhill Avenue, dating from this time, now rests in Newport Museum.[29]

Newport, 1813

The attack on the Chartists by the Westgate Hotel, 4 November 1839

As the Industrial Revolution transformed Britain in the 19th century, the South Wales Valleys became key suppliers of coal from the South Wales Coalfield, and iron. These were transported down local rivers and the new canals to ports such as Newport, and Newport Docks grew rapidly as a result. Newport became one of the largest towns in Wales and the focus for the new industrial eastern valleys of South Wales. By 1830 Newport was Wales' leading coal port, and until the 1850s it was larger than Cardiff.[18]

The Newport Rising in 1839 was the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in mainland Britain. John Frost and 3,000 other Chartists marched on the Westgate Hotel at the centre of the town. The march was met with an attack by militia, called to the town by the Mayor, Thomas Phillips: at least 20 marchers were killed and were later buried in Saint Woolos churchyard. John Frost was sentenced to death for treason, but this was later commuted to transportation to Australia. He returned to Britain (but not to Newport) later in his life. John Frost Square (1977), in the centre of the city, is named in his honour.

Newport probably had a Welsh-speaking majority until the 1830s, but with a large influx of migrants from England and Ireland over the following decades, the town and the rest of Monmouthshire came to be seen as "un-Welsh", a view compounded by ambiguity about the status of Monmouthshire.[18] In the 19th century, the St George Society of Newport (a group largely consisting of English settlers and businessmen) asserted that the town was part of England. It was at a meeting in Newport, attended by future Prime Minister David Lloyd George, that the Cymru Fydd movement received its death-blow in 1896 when politician Robert Bird stated: "You will find, from Swansea to Newport, a cosmopolitan population who will not submit to the domination of Welsh ideas!".[18] In 1922 Lloyd George was to suffer a further blow in Newport, when the South Wales Liberal Federation, led by David Alfred Thomas, an industrialist and Liberal politician, and Robert Bird moved that Lloyd George "be not heard" in the 1895 General Election. The Conservative capture of the recently created Newport constituency in a by-election in 1922 was one of the causes of the fall of his coalition government.[18]

The late 19th and early 20th century period was a boom time for Newport. The Alexandra Docks opened in 1875. The population was expanding rapidly and the town became a county borough in 1891.[18] In 1892 the Alexandra South Dock was opened and was the largest masonry dock in the world.[18] Although coal exports from Newport were by now modest compared to the Port of Cardiff (which included Cardiff, Penarth and Barry), Newport was the place where the Miners' Federation of Great Britain was founded in 1889, and international trade was sufficiently large for 8 consuls and 14 vice-consuls to be based in the town.[18] In 1898 Lysaght's Orb Works opened and by 1901 employed 3,000 staff. Urban expansion took in Pillgwenlly and Lliswerry to the south; this eventually necessitated a new crossing of the River Usk, which was provided by the Newport Transporter Bridge completed in 1906, described as "Newport's greatest treasure".[18]

Further extensions to the South Dock were opened in 1907 and 1914. The Newport Docks Disaster occurred on 2 July 1909 when, during the construction of the new south lock connecting the South Dock to the Severn Estuary, supporting timbers in an excavation trench collapsed and buried 46 workers. The rescuers included 12-year-old paperboy Thomas 'Toya' Lewis who was small enough to crawl into the collapsed trench. Lewis worked for two hours with hammer and chisel in an attempt to free one of those trapped who was released the next day. Several hundred pounds was later raised through public subscription in gratitude for the boy's efforts, and he was sent on an engineering scholarship to Scotland. Lewis was awarded the Albert Medal for Lifesaving by King Edward VII in December 1909. A Wetherspoons pub in the city centre is named "The Tom Toya Lewis" after the young hero.[30] The building in which the pub is housed was formerly the Newport YMCA, the Foundation Stone for which was laid by Viscount Tredegar, also in 1909.[31]

From 1893 the town was served by the paddle steamers of P & A Campbell Ltd. (the "White Funnel Line"), which was based in Bristol. The company had been originally set up, by the Scottish brothers Alex and Peter Campbell, on the River Clyde, but was re-located to the Severn Estuary. Departing steamers would face south on Davis Wharf, with the Art College to its left and the town bridge behind. The boats gave rise to the name of the short street which led to the quayside – Screwpacket Road. By 1955 steamers had stopped calling at Newport and P&A Campbell went into receivership in 1959. It was taken over by the firm which would become the Townsend Ferry group.[32]

Compared to many Welsh towns, Newport's economy had a broad base, with foundries, engineering works, a cattle market and shops that served much of Monmouthshire.[18] However, the docks were in decline even before the Great Depression, and local unemployment peaked at 34.7% in 1930: high, but not as bad as the levels seen in the mining towns of the South Wales Valleys. Despite the economic conditions, the council re-housed over half the population in the 1920s and 1930s.[18] In 1930 the Town Dock was filled in.

The former Inmos microprocessor factory

The post-war years saw renewed prosperity, with Saint Woolos Cathedral (now Newport Cathedral) attaining full cathedral status in 1949, the opening of the modern integrated Llanwern steelworks in 1962, and the construction of the Severn Bridge and local sections of the M4 motorway in the late 1960s, making Newport the best-connected place in Wales.[18][33] Although employment at Llanwern steelworks declined in the 1980s, the town acquired a range of new public sector employers, and a Richard Rogers–designed Inmos microprocessor factory helped to establish Newport as being extant for technology companies.[34]

A flourishing local music scene in the early 1990s led to claims that the town was "a new Seattle".[18][35]

The county borough of Newport was granted city status in 2002 to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee.[36] In the same year, an unusually large merchant ship, referred to locally as the Newport Ship, was uncovered and rescued from the west bank of the River Usk during the construction of the Riverfront Arts Centre. The ship has been dated to between 1445 and 1469 and remains the only vessel of its type from this period yet discovered anywhere in the world.

• c. 1075: Norman wood motte and bailey castle built on Stow Hill.
• 1314: First town charter.
• 1327–1386: Newport Castle built.
• 1385: Second town charter granted by Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford.
• 1402: Town was taken by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr, rebel Prince of Wales during the Welsh Revolt: Saint Woolos Cathedral destroyed.
• 1426: Third town charter granted by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
• 1648: Town was taken by the forces of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War.
• 1672: Tredegar House completed.
• 1796: Opening of the Monmouthshire Canal.
• 1839: Chartist Newport Rising, Westgate Hotel, Newport led by radical former mayor John Frost.
• 1842: Newport Town Dock opens – floating dock able to accommodate the largest ships in the world.
• 1858: Town Dock extended to the north.
• 1867: Lower Dock Street drill hall completed.[37]
• 1871: W. H. Davies, renowned poet born at Portland Street, Pillgwenlly.
• 1875: Alexandra Dock opens.
• 1877: Athletic grounds at Rodney Parade opens.
• 1887: The Boys' Brigade movement in Wales founded by George Philip Reynolds at Havelock Street Presbyterian Church.
• 1891: Newport gains County Borough status, governed independently of Monmouthshire.[38]
• 1892: Alexandra South Dock opens, extended 1907 (phase2) and 1914 (phase3).
• 1880–1900: Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar donates land for the benefit of the public, including Belle Vue Park, the Royal Gwent Hospital and Newport Athletics Grounds.
• 1894: Belle Vue Park opens.
• 1898: Lysaght's Orb Works steelworks opens.

Royal Gwent Hospital, Cardiff Road

• 1901: Royal Gwent Hospital moves to its current site
• 1906: Newport Transporter Bridge[39] opens on 12 September.
• 1909: Newport Docks Disaster.
• 1915: First public automatic telephone exchange made in Britain opens in Newport.[40]
• 1919: George Street/Ruperra Street Race Riots.
• 1930: Town Dock closes and filled in.
• 1937: King George VI visits Newport and cuts first sod of new Civic Centre building.
• 1949: Saint Woolos pro-Cathedral attains full cathedral status, (now Newport Cathedral).
• 1962: Llanwern steelworks opens.

Llanwern steelworks

• 1963: Newport rugby club beats the touring New Zealand All Blacks.
• 2002: Newport granted city status; discovery of the Newport Ship.
• 2003: Newport Unlimited regeneration company set up.
• 2010: The Ryder Cup golf competition was hosted at the Celtic Manor Resort.
• 2013: Hartridge High School reopens as Llanwern High School in a new £29m building.
• 2014: The 2014 NATO summit takes place at the Celtic Manor Resort.[41]
• 2015: Friars Walk shopping centre opens.
• 2019: The International Convention Centre Wales opened at the Celtic Manor Resort.
• 2019: Railway electrification reached Newport, as part of the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line.

See also Category:Politics of Newport, Wales

The city is historically industrialised with a large working-class population and strong support for the Labour Party.[18] There is substantial support for the Conservative Party on the west side of Newport, as well as its rural hinterland.

Labour lost control of Newport City council in the 2008 local elections to a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition but the Labour Party regained an overall majority of councillors in the 2012 election.

The City of Newport is divided between the UK Parliamentary constituencies of Newport West and Newport East and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) in each constituency. The two constituencies cover a similar area to that of the city area controlled by Newport City Council. The city formerly had only one constituency until 1983 when the city was split into Newport West and Newport East due to population growth. In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party held Newport West with a reduced majority of 902 votes over the Conservative Party and the Labour Party held Newport East with a reduced majority of 1,992 votes over the Conservative Party.

In the Welsh Parliament Newport is divided between the Senedd constituencies of Newport West and Newport East and elects one Member of the Senedd (MS) in each constituency. In the 2021 Senedd election, the Labour Party held Newport West with a reduced majority of 3,926 votes over the Conservative Party and the Labour Party held Newport East with a reduced majority of 3,584 votes over the Conservative Party.

Prior to Brexit, Newport was part of the Wales European Parliament Constituency. The Wales constituency elected four Members of the European Parliament (MEP) on a Proportional representation basis. In the 2019 European Parliament election the Wales constituency elected one MEP from the Labour Party, one from Plaid Cymru and two from the Brexit Party.

The official blazon of the armorial bearings is: "(arms) Or, a chevron reversed gules, the shield ensigned by a cherub proper. Supporters: on the dexter side a winged sea lion Or, and on the sinister side a sea dragon gules, the nether parts of both proper, finned gold."

The title of Freedom of Newport is a ceremonial honour, given by the Newport council to those who have served in some exceptional capacity, or upon any whom Newport wishes to bestow an honour. There have been 17 individuals or organisations that have received the honour since 1909,[42][43] including:

• Rt. Hon. Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar, Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire
• Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1945)[44]
• Corps of the South Wales Borderers (24th Foot)
• Royal Regiment of Wales (24th/41st Foot)
• 104th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers)
• Royal Welch Fusiliers (2001)[45]
• British Merchant Navy Association
• HMS Severn (2006)[46]
• Newport County A.F.C. (2013)[42]
• Newport R.F.C. (2013)[47]
• Royal British Legion (2021)

See also Category:Districts of Newport, Wales

The city is divided into 21 wards. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. Each community can have an elected council. The following table lists city council wards, communities and associated geographical areas.

* communities with a community council.

Newport has a moderate temperate climate, with the weather rarely staying the same for more than a few days at a time. The city is one of the sunnier locations in Wales and its sheltered location tends to protect it from extreme weather. Like the whole of the British Isles, Newport benefits from the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. Newport has mild summers and cool winters.[48][49][50][51][52]

Thunderstorms may occur intermittently at any time of year, but are most common throughout late-spring and summer. Rain falls throughout the year, Atlantic storms give significant rainfall in the autumn, these gradually becoming rarer towards the end of winter. Autumn and summer have often been the wettest seasons in recent times. Snow falls in most winters and sometimes settles on the ground, usually melting within a few days. Newport records few days with gales compared to most of Wales, again due to its sheltered location. Frosts are common from October to May.

On 20 March 1930, the overnight temperature fell to −16.1 °C (3.0 °F) the coldest temperature for the whole of the UK during that year, and the latest date in spring the UK's lowest temperature has been recorded.[53]

Newport Cathedral – St Woolos

In 1929 St Woolos Church became the Pro-Cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth, becoming a full cathedral in 1949. When Rowan Williams was appointed Archbishop of Wales in 2000, the Cathedral became the Metropolitan Cathedral of Wales.[55]

In 1850 Newport was recognised as a centre of Catholicism in Wales when the Diocese of Newport and Menevia was created. Between 21 October 1966 and 6 October 1969, having retired as Bishop of Rochester, New York, Fulton J. Sheen, an American bishop who pioneered preaching on television and radio, was appointed the titular archbishop of Newport by Pope Paul VI. The Catholic St Patrick's Church is served by the Rosminians.

The Church in Wales church of SS. Julius and Aaron

In the 2011 census 56.8% of Newport residents considered themselves Christian, 4.7% Muslim, 1.2% Other religions (including Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish and Others), 29.7% were non-religious and 7.5% chose not to answer the non-compulsory religion question on the census.[56]

Newport has more than 50 churches,[57] 7 mosques,[58] and one synagogue;[59] the nearest Gurudwara is in Cardiff.[60]

The Church in Wales church of St Julius and St Aaron, at St Julian's, was consecrated in 1926.[61]

Religion	2001[62]		2011[63]
	Number	%	Number	%
Holds religious beliefs	102,913	75.2	91,465	62.8
Christian	98,484	71.9	82,858	56.9
Buddhist	240	0.2	360	0.2
Hindu	231	0.2	685	0.5
Jewish	87	0.1	99	0.1
Muslim	3,492	2.5	6,859	4.7
Sikh	85	0.1	141	0.1
Other religion	294	0.2	463	0.3
(No religion and Religion not stated)	34,098	24.9	54,271	37.2
No religion	22,963	16.8	43,336	29.7
Religion not stated	11,135	8.1	10,935	7.5
Total population	137,011	100.0	145,736	100.0

The first stage of regeneration involved improving the city centre road network, turning Kingsway and Queensway into boulevards. The Southern Distributor Road to the south of the city opened in 2004, including the new City Bridge over the River Usk, improving access and opening up new areas for development. The Newport City footbridge opened in 2006 linking the east and west banks of the river for pedestrians and cyclists.

Newport railway station was expanded in 2007[80] to four full size platforms capable of receiving 10 car Intercity Express Programme services to and from London Paddington. In 2010 a new station building was finished, carried out by engineering firm Atkins. During construction it was Wales' most environmentally friendly station work,[81] using a hypermodern green ETFE structure similar to the materials used in the Eden Project and the Beijing Olympics' ‘Water Cube’. In 2019 railway electrification and resigning work will be completed, completing the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line and reducing journey times to London to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Newport bus station was redeveloped in 2013, expanded in 2015 with the Friars Walk development, and now offering 24 stands connecting to the rest of the city, as well as Cardiff and Bristol.[82] Local railway stations are reopening, starting with Rogerstone station in 2008, Pye Corner station in 2014, and with three others planned in the city's Unitary Development Plan.[83] Transport for Wales intend to restart services between Newport and Ebbw Vale Parkway by 2021.[84]

A state-of-the-art District General Hospital is envisaged to be built to replace the Royal Gwent Hospital. The former Corus steel Whiteheads site was speculated but this was rejected in favour of redeveloping the Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital site, near Cwmbran as a specialist and critical care unit.

The M4 relief road skirting the southern edge of the urban area of Newport has been proposed as a means of reducing the congestion on the existing M4 motorway (presently squeezed through the Brynglas Tunnels) and making Newport and the surrounding areas more accessible for motorised vehicles. The relief road scheme was cancelled in July 2009 but relaunched in 2014.[85] There have also been calls for a barrage across the River Usk to be incorporated with the M4 relief road, so that the level of the river would stay permanently at high tide level, although possible plans for a Severn barrage across the River Severn would reduce the need for such a scheme.

Riverfront Arts Centre next to the River Usk

The Riverfront Arts Centre was the first structure to be built as part of Newport's regeneration by Newport City Council in 2004. It stands on Kingsway Boulevard on the west bank of the River Usk. On the east bank, Rodney Parade is home to club rugby union side Newport RFC, the regional Pro14 rugby union team Dragons, and the football team Newport County A.F.C.

Newport witnessed the fastest growth in property values in the UK during 2018,[86]

As part of the city's master plan, the city centre has been expanded to take in areas of the River Usk east bank, with the area of land between Newport Bridge and George Street Bridge part of an ongoing a £43 million high-density combined commercial and residential area, joined to the west bank by the new footbridge. The plan is designed to show a strong urban form along the riverfront, emphasised with tall landmark buildings.[87] The first phase has been labelled City Vizion.[88]

The Newport Student Village is adjacent to the university campus on the west bank,[89] as well as the "Newhaus" development of 154 riverside apartments.[90] At the southern end of the site, the "Alexandra Gate" development includes 300 homes and riverside apartments built adjacent to the City Bridge.[91]

In east Newport, land released from the Corus steelworks at Llanwern is being redeveloped as 4,000 houses, shops and other facilities.[92]

Usk Plaza, Friars Walk

The Newport retail environment faced challenges following the late-2000s recession, with major redevelopment projects heavily delayed.

Friars Walk shopping complex was first planned as a £210m development ahead of the 2010 Ryder Cup, but faced numerous setbacks. The site opened to the public in November 2015[93] helped by £90m of assistance from Newport Council to the developers,[93] with the Debenhams flagship store.[94] As well as 30 new shops, there are a dozen restaurants and an eight-screen Cineworld multiplex cinema.[93] Plans for redevelopment of the smaller Cambrian Centre were approved in 2012.[95]

Building on hosting the Ryder Cup in 2010 and the NATO Summit in 2014, the 5,000 capacity Celtic Manor International Conference Centre (ICC Wales) opened its doors in 2019[96] as a conference venue for businesses and events in Wales and across the South West of England. It has hosted the UK Space Conference, BBC Cymru Wales broadcasts, and numerous national political conferences including hosting the Green Party of England and Wales and the UK Independence Party.

The 15-storey Chartist Tower is currently being redeveloped by developers Garrison Barclay Estates as a 163-bedroom Mercure Hotel, offering views across the city and the Bristol Channel. The site will also include 25,000 sq ft of office space and 18,000 sq ft of retail space. The hotel development is seen as an important step towards meeting the additional demand for hotel space in Newport created by the International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales. The opening of the hotel has been delayed by several months due to Wales' lockdown as a response to COVID-19. It was planned to open it in mid-2021.[97]

Newport Market is also being redeveloped as a £12m mixed use[98] site with a tech hub, apartments, market units, as well as a food court, a project led by Newport City Council and the proprietors of Tramshed Cardiff.

Newport bus station

The nearest airport with scheduled domestic and international flights is Cardiff Airport, 30 miles (50 kilometres) southwest of Newport.[99] The airport is a 35-minute drive away from the city, or a 55-minute train journey which involves changing at Cardiff Central for Vale of Glamorgan Line services to the nearby Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station. The airport is also accessible by transferring to 24-hour TrawsCymru T9 busses which begin at Cardiff Central station.

In 2003, a proposal for a new "Severnside" airport near Newport was rejected by the Department for Transport. The airport would have featured runways on a man-made island in the Severn Estuary.[100]

Newport bus station is the largest bus interchange in the county, with 24 stands. It was built as part of the adjacent Friars Walk shopping centre and the station opened in December 2015.

Bus services are primarily provided by the municipally funded Newport Bus company, and neighbouring firm Cardiff Bus. Other operators include Phil Anslow Coaches, Stagecoach in South Wales, New Adventure Travel (N.A.T.), and until recently, First West of England.

Inter-city National Express services run from a stop near the Riverfront arts centre opposite the bus station[101] and Megabus (Europe) services operate outside of Newport Railway Station.

Newport railway station in 2011

Newport is the easternmost Welsh city on the United Kingdom rail network and has close proximity to major economic centres in Cardiff and Bristol. Newport railway station is the third-busiest station in Wales, and due to its interchange options it serves as a major transfer station.

The Great Western main railway line connects the city with termini at Bristol, London Paddington, and Pembroke Dock; the Welsh Marches line connects with Holyhead, Manchester Piccadilly, and Llanelli; and the Gloucester line connects the borders region including Cheltenham. The Wessex Main Line also provides an hourly service from the city to Portsmouth. The station has four platforms and is a mandatory stop on all express services to and from London Paddington.

The city is well linked with the nearby Welsh capital Cardiff, with approximately six rail and five bus services between the cities every hour.[102] Services to/from Bristol stop at Newport on average 2–3 times per hour while there are nearly 4 services to/from London each hour.[103]

Rogerstone railway station on the Ebbw Valley Railway reopened in 2008. Services currently run between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff via Rogerstone. Transport for Wales are scheduled to run direct services between Newport and Ebbw Vale by 2021.[104]

The current station was built in 2010 in a hypermodern green ETFE structure, after a £22 million refurbishment programme, introducing the futuristic new passenger terminal and bridge, whilst restoring the 19th-century features of the site. The new complex, west of the old station entrance, includes two terminals, four full-size platforms, new terminal buildings and a public footbridge, a new passenger footbridge, a new taxi area and short-stay car park, and a 250-space passenger car park.

The 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line programme has seen the installation of new facilities on platforms 2 and 3, including redesigned toilets, waiting rooms, and covered areas.

Overhead line equipment has been installed through the city as part of electrification of the London to Cardiff line, which allows the operation of Japanese-built Intercity Express Programme 10-car trains. The new services will be all-electric, with more seats and improvements to journey times between Newport and London of around 1 hour 30 minutes including non-stop services after Wales between Bristol Parkway and London Paddington.[105]

There are active proposals from Grand Central to operate services from Llanelli, via Cardiff and Newport, to London Paddington, only stopping at Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway instead of the current service which also calls at Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Reading.[106]

The services calling at Newport are:

• Great Western Railway
  • London Paddington – Reading – Bristol Parkway – Newport – Cardiff Central (– Bridgend – Port Talbot – Neath – Swansea)
  • Cardiff Central – Newport – Bristol Temple Meads – Bath Spa – Salisbury – Southampton – Portsmouth Harbour
  • Cardiff Central – Newport – Bristol Temple Meads – Weston-super-Mare – Taunton
• Transport for Wales
  • Manchester Piccadilly – Stockport – Crewe – Shrewsbury – Hereford – Cwmbran – Newport – Cardiff Central (– Bridgend – Port Talbot – Neath – Swansea – Carmarthen – Haverfordwest)
  • Cardiff Central – Newport – Cwmbran – Hereford – Shrewsbury – Wrexham General – Chester – Rhyl – Bangor – Holyhead
  • Maesteg – Bridgend – Cardiff Central – Newport – Chepstow – Gloucester – Cheltenham Spa
• CrossCountry
  • Cardiff Central – Newport – Gloucester – Cheltenham Spa – Birmingham New Street – Nottingham

The Brynglas Tunnels in Newport are the only twin–bored tunnels in the UK motorway network

The M4 motorway junctions in and near the city area:

• 23A lies just outside the city boundaries and provides local access via the A4810 and B4245.
• 24: Coldra A449/A48/B4237
• 25: Caerleon Road B4596
• 25A: Grove Park A4042
• 26: Malpas Road A4051
• 27: High Cross, B4591
• 28: Tredegar Park A48/A4072 (A467/A468)
• 29: St Mellons A48(M) – no access from local roads

The Brynglas Tunnels are a cause of traffic delays as the M4 narrows to two lanes in both directions between junctions 25 and 26.

The City Bridge forms part of the Southern Distributor Road, spanning the River Usk

The Southern Distributor Road (SDR) is part of the A48 road and is a peripheral distributor road, which runs from Junction 24 of the M4 motorway in the east of Newport to Junction 28 in the west. Combined with the M4 in the north, the SDR forms the southern part of a ring road for the city.

The major west–east A roads are:

• The A48 westbound (Cardiff Road) is as an alternative route from Newport to Cardiff.
• The A48 eastbound (Chepstow Road) is as an alternative route from Newport to Chepstow, South West England (via the Severn Bridge), the Wye Valley and Gloucestershire.
• The A4072 (Forge Road) from M4 junction 28 connects Newport via the A468 to Machen and Caerphilly.
• The A4810 (Queen's Way) connects the SDR at Lee Way to the M4 at junction 23A through the Llanwern Steelworks.

The A4072 (Forge Road)

The principal north-south A roads are:

• The A449 connects Newport to Usk and the English Midlands via M4 junction 24.
• The A4042 connects Newport to Cwmbran, Pontypool and Abergavenny via M4 junction 25A.
• The A4051 (Malpas Road) connects Newport to Cwmbran via M4 junction 26.
• The A4072 (Forge Road) from M4 junction 28 connects Newport via the A467 to Risca and the towns of the Sirhowy Valley, Ebbw Valley and Rhymney Valley.

The B roads are:

• The B4237 (former A48) connects M4 junction 24 to junction 28 (Chepstow Road, Wharf Road, crossing George Street Bridge onto George Street and then Cardiff Road).
• The B4596 (Caerleon Road, former A449) links central Newport to Caerleon via M4 Junction 25.
• The B4591 (Risca Road/High Cross Road, former A467) is an alternative route from Newport to Risca via M4 Junction 27 (High Cross) and Rogerstone.
• The B4245 (Magor Road) at Langstone connects Newport to Underwood, Magor and Caldicot.
• The B4239 (Lighthouse Road) at Duffryn connects Newport to Rumney, Cardiff.

The Old Green Interchange

The Old Green Interchange is an elevated roundabout over the A4042 (Heidenheim Drive) at the western end of Newport Bridge. Newport's pedestrianised High Street runs southwest from the interchange through Westgate Square to the pedestrianised Commercial Street. Queensway passes Newport railway station and links the Old Green Interchange to Newport Civic Centre via Clytha Park Road. Kingsway/Usk Way is a boulevard on the west bank of the River Usk linking the Old Green Interchange to the Southern Distributor Road at the western end of City Bridge and to Newport Transporter Bridge.

Corporation Road follows the east bank of the River Usk, but with limited views of the river. It links Newport Bridge to George Street Bridge, Newport City Bridge and, via Stephenson Road, Newport Transporter Bridge.

Newport Bridge 2011

The Newport Transporter Bridge, opened in 1906

Newport has nine public bridges spanning the River Usk, connecting the east and west of the city.

From north to south they are: Caerleon Bridge, St. Julian's railway bridge, M4 motorway Usk bridge, Usk Railway Bridge, Newport Bridge, Newport City footbridge, George Street Bridge, City Bridge and Transporter Bridge.

In addition, the Twenty Ten Bridge at the Celtic Manor Resort is a footbridge crossing the River Usk north of Caerleon Bridge, no longer open to the public since May 2019.[107]

The city has had a long history of constructed crossings of the River Usk, beginning in 1800:

• 1800: First stone structure, Newport Bridge, constructed
• 1806: Caerleon Bridge built
• 1850: South Wales Railway Usk Bridge built
• 1866: Newport Road Bridge widened
• 1866: St. Julian's railway bridge built
• 1888: second Usk Railway Bridge built beside first
• 1906: Transporter Bridge built
• 1911: Great Western Railway Usk bridge widened
• 1927: Current Newport Bridge built
• 1964: George Street Bridge built
• 1967: M4 motorway Usk bridge built
• 1989: M4 motorway Usk bridge, and additional crossings, built
• 2004: City Bridge built
• 2006: Newport City footbridge built
• 2010: Twenty Ten Bridge built

St Mark's Church

The façade of the former main Post Office, High Street

The Cenotaph, Clarence Place

See the following categories:

• Buildings and structures in Newport, Wales
• Landmarks in Newport, Wales
• Visitor attractions in Newport, Wales

Many of the landmarks of Newport are in Newport city centre or within a short walking distance of the centre; and these include:

• Newport Cathedral (c. 400–500)
• Newport Castle (c. 1075)
• Newport Bridge (1800)
• Ye Olde Murenger House (1819)
• St Paul's Church (1835)
• Newport railway station (1850)
• Newport Market (1854)
• St Mark's Church (1872)
• Rodney Parade (1875)
• Westgate Hotel (1881)
• Museum Art Gallery and Central Library (1888)
• Belle Vue Park (1891)
• Royal Gwent Hospital (1901)
• Shire Hall (1902)
• Transporter Bridge (1906)
• Newport Technical Institute (former Art College) (1910)
• Civic Centre (1940)
• Newport Crown Court (1940)
• George Street Bridge (1964)
• Dolman Theatre (1967)
• Newport Centre (1985)
• Newport City Bridge (2004)
• Riverfront Arts Centre (2004)
• Newport City footbridge (2006)
• University of South Wales, Newport Campus (2011)
• Newport bus station (2015)

The city has a number of churches of architectural merit.

Other landmarks include:

• West Usk Lighthouse – operating as a hotel.
• Beechwood House – at Beechwood Park.
• Brynglas House – operating as an adult-education centre.
• Church of St Mary, Nash – the 12th-century parish church of Nash near Newport[108] described by local historian Fred Hando as "the Cathedral of the Moors".[29]
• Lysaght Institute – former working men's club for steelworkers when the Orb Works steel plant moved from Wolverhampton. Built 1928, refurbished 2012.[109]
• Isca Augusta – extensive remains of a Roman fortress in the village of Caerleon including a baths, amphitheatre, and barracks. The site of the Cadw Roman Legion museum.
• Hanbury Arms, a pub in Caerleon which was noted as the place where Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote Idylls of the King.
• Newport Cenotaph – World War I and World War II memorial in Clarence Place.
• Main Post Office – a retained façade of the former main Post Office building in High Street adjacent to the old Corn Exchange. A blue plaque states: "Site of Newport's first Head Post Office. Built in 1844 and rebuilt in 1907, the Edwardian façade being preserved in the total reconstruction of the island site in 2001. Once housed the town's first telephone exchange, known as The Savoy. Listed Grade II in 1985."
• The Kings Hotel – former hotel in High Street dated c. 1812, currently being redeveloped as apartments
• Newport Arcade – Victorian arcade linking High Street to Cambrian Road.
• Market Arcade – Victorian arcade linking High Street to Market Street.
• Waterloo Hotel – Grade II-listed building in Alexandra Road, Pillgwenlly, currently operating as a bistro.
• Masonic Hall – Grade II-listed building at 109 Lower Dock Street.
• Burton Almshouses – almhouses located on Friars Road, built 1900.
• The Old Rising Sun – former public house on Shaftesbury Street, Shaftesbury

The main shopping streets of Newport city centre are pedestrianised with High Street and Commercial Street forming the north /south axis plus adjoining roads including Newport Arcade, Market Arcade, Skinner Street, Bridge Street, Upper Dock Street, Market Street, Griffin Street, Corn Street, Cambrian Road, Hill Street and Llanarth Street.

The five roads of Commercial Street, Stow Hill, Bridge Street, High Street and Skinner Street converge at Westgate Square (named after the Westgate Hotel) and this is generally regarded as the central point the city.

Kingsway Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping mall. The adjoining £90 million Friars Walk shopping centre opened in November 2015 is regarded as having benefited the city centre; this has 30 shops, about 12 restaurants and an 8-screen cinema.[93][110] Newport Market is a Victorian indoor market on two floors with outlets for produce and general products.

• 
  Newport Arcade, High Street
• 
  The junction of High Street, Commercial Street, Skinner Street, Bridge Street and Stow Hill in the city centre
• 
  High Street
• 
  The Westgate Hotel in Commercial Street
• 
  Commercial Street
• 
  Kingsway Shopping Centre

Outside of the city centre large retail parks are established off the Southern Distributor Road:

• Newport Retail Park is to the east at Lliswerry – M4 motorway Junction 24 (Coldra), then A48 (Ringland Way/Spytty Road).
• Three retail parks (Harlech, Maesglas and 28 East) around Maesglas to the west of the city – M4 motorway Junction 28 (Tredegar Park), then A48.

See also Music of Newport

Newport Centre

The city centre has many pubs, bars and nightclubs, mostly in the vicinity of High Street. The most famous of these was TJ's, an alternative music club where it is claimed that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana proposed to Courtney Love, which closed in 2010.[129] TJ's was voted one of the top 50 'Big Nights Out' in the world by FHM in December 1997[130]

Newport Centre and the Riverfront Arts Centre are popular concert venues. Other live music venues in the city centre include NEON, Six Feet Under, Le Pub, Riverside Tavern, Warehouse 54, McCann's, Slippin Jimmy's, El Sieco's, and The Potters.

Outdoor music events are held in the summer months at Beechwood Park, Belle Vue Park, Rodney Parade, as well as the Pillgwenlly and Maindee carnivals.

Newport is the subject of a 2010 song "Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)",[131] a parody of the Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind." The video went viral, was featured on BBC News,[132] and by August 2010, nearly 2.5 million people had watched it on YouTube. YouTube removed the video due to a copyright claim by music publishers.[133][134] Newport-based rap group Goldie Lookin Chain released a 'parody of a parody' video in response, alleging that their rivals lacked local knowledge.[135]

City of Newport Male Choir[136] is one of the leading male voice choirs in the region

See also Category:Parks in Newport, Wales

The main municipal parks in Newport are Tredegar Park, Belle Vue Park and Beechwood Park. The main municipal playing fields are at Tredegar Park, Coronation Park, Glebelands, Pillgwenlly sports ground, Kimberley Park, Shaftesbury Park and Caerleon Broadway.

The boxer David Pearce was born in Newport.

The exploits of Newport RFC were world-renowned. One of the few clubs to have beaten all the major southern hemisphere touring sides, they were the only side to beat the Invincible All Blacks of 1963–64. Amongst the names associated with the club are Arthur 'Monkey' Gould, the first rugby union superstar, and David Watkins, the only man to have captained Great Britain at rugby union and rugby league.

Since the introduction of regional rugby franchises in Wales in 2003, Newport RFC now play in the Welsh Premier Division and operate as a feeder club to the Dragons regional team, who play in the Pro14 league. Both Newport RFC and the Dragons play at Rodney Parade near Newport city centre.

Nine other rugby union teams playing in the Welsh League are based in Newport; Newport Saracens, Pill Harriers, Newport High School Old Boys, Bettws, Caerleon, Hartridge, Rogerstone, St Julians High School Old Boys and Whiteheads.

Newport's rugby league club are called the Newport Titans and play in the Welsh Conference Premier.

Rodney Parade, home of Newport County, Dragons, and Newport RFC

Newport's best known association football club is Newport County, who were formed in 1912 and joined the English Football League in 1920. Newport County have played in the second tier of English football and spent over 60 seasons in the Football League, reached the last 16 of the FA Cup, won the Welsh Cup in 1980 and subsequently reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1981. They were relegated from the Football League in 1988 and went bankrupt the following year. The club re-formed in 1989. They secured promotion back to the Football League for the 2013–14 season after a 25-year absence and now play in Football League Two.

Newport is also home to five teams that play in the Welsh Football League: Caerleon, Lliswerry, Newport City, Newport Civil Service and Newport YMCA. The city has its own league, the Newport and District Football League, which is part of the Welsh football league system and consequently some Newport clubs field teams in the Gwent County League. Lovell's Athletic were a fairly well known team in the mid-20th century – due to the suspension of League football during the Second World War they were the premier team in the city, as Newport County did not field a side. During this period they managed to reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup in the 1945–46 season.

Dragon Park, the Football Association of Wales' National Football Centre, is located at the Newport International Sports Village. The centre also provides the headquarters for the Welsh Football Trust.

The city is home to the Celtic Manor Resort, a five-star conference resort and home of the Wales Open, the annual European Tour golf tournament. The resort was the venue for the All*Star Cup celebrity golf tournament in 2005 and for the 2010 Ryder Cup.

The city has high-quality golf facilities at Llanwern Golf Club, Peterstone Golf Club, Parc Golf Academy in Coedkernew and Newport Golf Club and Tredegar Park Golf Club in Rogerstone. Caerleon has a good quality nine-hole municipal course, driving range and clubhouse.

Within a short drive of Newport are golf clubs at St Mellons, Dewstow, Shirenewton, St Pierre, GreenMeadow, Woodlake, Alice Springs, Pontypool and Raglan.

The Newport International Sports Village at Lliswerry includes the Wales National Velodrome, the head office of Welsh Cycling.

Newport was a key venue for British Tennis. The 'World Group' Ties for the 1906 International Lawn Tennis Challenge (forerunner to the Davis Cup) were hosted at Newport Athletic Club.

St Josephs Amateur Boxing Club, George Street

The Newport International Sports Village has been home to Newport Cricket Club since moving from Rodney Parade in 1990.

For many years the city had a motorcycle speedway team Newport Wasps but the team was disbanded in 2012.

Newport is one of three main cities where British baseball is still played – the others are Cardiff and Liverpool – and the city hosts an international match every four years at Coronation Park.

South East Wales Regional Swimming Pool is located at Newport International Sports Village. Newport Tennis Centre is also located at the complex and is a municipal multi-sport facility for tennis (indoor and outdoor), five-a-side football, basketball, field hockey, netball, table tennis, badminton, and squash.

Newport Squash Club has four courts situated in the grounds of Rodney Parade and the club operates a public pay-per-play arrangement there.

St. Joseph's Amateur Boxing Club is situated on George Street and is the home club of Yemeni-born 2006 Commonwealth bronze medallist Mo Nasir[141] and 2010 Commonwealth Silver medallist Sean McGoldrick.[142]

Treetops Shooting Ground, Coedkernew is one of Britain's best-equipped clay pigeon shooting grounds and often hosts competitions between local shooting clubs and university clay shooting clubs from around South Wales and South West England.

Newport hosted the International Cross Country Championships (1903–1972) on six occasions (1906, 1911, 1921, 1927, 1933 and 1955) at Caerleon Racecourse.

Newport has a Skittle Alley League consisting of over 50 teams who play their league games on a Friday evening.

The city is currently home to a number of annual sporting events, including:

• The Wales Open European Tour golf tournament
• The Elemis Invitational Trophy tennis tournament
• The Welsh Open world ranking snooker tournament
• The World Cup of Pool
• The Newport Half Marathon

• Guangxi Province, China, from 1996 to 2019 (defunct)

Newport City Council voted unanimously on 23 July 2019 to effectively end relations with the Guangxi Province region of China.[148]

38,000 people had petitioned the council to end its twinning agreement due to the Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which takes place in the Guangxi town of Yulin each year. Council Leader Debbie Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox stated that while the council had previously written a strong letter to officials from Guangxi, this had been ignored, and that cutting ties was now necessary. The Council says it will now lobby the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Great Britain–China Centre on the issue of protecting dogs.

• Rt Hon Lord Tredegar: 1909. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman John Moses JP: 1909. (Borough of Newport)
• Albert Augustus Newman: 1922. (Borough of Newport)
• Rt Hon James Henry Thomas PC MP: 1924. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman John Parry JP: 1927. (Borough of Newport)
• Horace Sampson Lyne MBE: 1934. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman John Moxon OBE: 1935. (Borough of Newport)
• William Royse Lysaght CBE JP: 1936. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman Frederick Phillips JP: 1936. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman John Lloyd Davies JP: 1936. (Borough of Newport)
• Field Marshal Rt Hon Lord Montgomery of Alamein KG GCB DSO PC DL: 1945. (Borough of Newport)
• Mrs. Mary Ann Hart OBE JP: 1954. (Borough of Newport)
• Alderman Aubrey Hames: 19 February 1998. (Borough of Newport)
• Sir Harry Jones CBE: 8 April 2004. (City of Newport)[150]

• The South Wales Borderers: 1947. (Borough of Newport)
• The Royal Regiment of Wales: 1969. (Borough of Newport)
• 104th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers): 1978. (Borough of Newport)
• The Royal Welch Fusiliers: 2001. (Borough of Newport)
• The Merchant Navy Association (Red Duster): 2002. (City of Newport)
• HMS Severn, RN: 2006. (City of Newport)

• Newport County Association Football Club: 2013. (City of Newport)
• Newport Rugby Football Club: 2013. (City of Newport)
• The Royal British Legion: 29 June 2021. (City of Newport)[151]