Maesglas or Maes-glas is a neighbourhood in the south west of the city of Newport, South Wales. In the 16th century it was recorded as Greenfield but the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

name ''Maesglas'' has remained the more widely used, among English speakers. It lies in the Gaer ward directly north of the A48

Southern Distributor Road The Southern Distributor Road (SDR) is a principal distributor road in Newport that runs from the Coldra roundabout ( M4 junction 24) in the east of Newport to Tredegar Park M4 Junction 28) in the west of Newport and includes City Bridge, a ...

, south of Cardiff Road and south-west of the

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

railway. The Newport-born author Leslie Thomas wrote of Maesglas: This quote is incorporated into a mural telling the history of the estate, painted on the side of the Maesglas shops.

Housing

The main housing estate was first built in the 1930s, then many newer houses were added between the 1970s and 1990s in the Bideford Road area, next to the Great Western Main Line. Homes on the Maesglas estate are fairly compact but all have front and back gardens. Most of the houses are

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

but are arranged in all sorts of different rows and shapes of street, due to being built in the suburbs and having more room to build wider roads. A significant percentage of the houses are council-owned. In the centre of the estate, there are two schools: Maesglas

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and Maes-Ebbw School for older students with severe learning difficulties. The nearest Highschools in the area are St. Josephs (Roman Catholic) and

Duffryn High School The John Frost School, formerly known as Duffryn High School ( cy, Ysgol Uwchradd Dyffryn), is a comprehensive school on the south-western outskirts of Newport, Wales, Newport, south Wales. It is in the suburb of Duffryn and opened in 1959. The J ...

which is attended by most teenagers of the estate. Semi-detached houses either side of Cardiff Road, St. Bride's Gardens next to the

Ebbw River The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River ( Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself ...

and the small estate (St David's Crescent) next to St. David's R.C. primary school, are also sometimes considered to be part of Maesglas.

Facilities

Maesglas is surrounded by several retail parks including the Harlech Retail Park, Maesglas Retail Park and 28 East Retail Park. Maesglas was also home to the headquarters of the Monmouthshire region's local newspaper, the

South Wales Argus The ''South Wales Argus'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. ''The Argus'' is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen. History The paper was founded as the ''South Wales Arg ...

, until 2020. South-east of the railway line lies the Maesglas Industrial Estate, although this is in the

Pill Pill or The Pill may refer to: Drugs * Pill (pharmacy), referring to anything small for a specific dose of medicine * "The Pill", a general nickname for the combined oral contraceptive pill Film and television * ''The Pill'' (film), a 2011 fil ...

ward. Both the Maesglas estate and the nearby Gaer estate are Communities First areas of Newport, recognised as being high on the index of multiple deprivation used by the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

to establish the poverty of an area. Maesglas has benefited hugely since the beginning of the scheme. Maesglas has many recreational areas nearby such as

Tredegar Park Tredegar Park ( cy, Parc Tredegar) is a public park situated in the western Coedkernew area of the city of Newport, South Wales. It lies close to junction 28 of the M4 motorway connecting London and West Wales. History It formerly for ...

as well as football field in the grounds of the Maesglas Primary school. It is surrounded by history as Maesglas is close to

Tredegar House Tredegar House ( Welsh: ''Tŷ Tredegar'') is a 17th-century Charles II-era mansion on the southwestern edge of Newport, Wales. For over five hundred years it was home to the Morgan family, later Lords Tredegar; one of the most powerful and infl ...

of the famous Morgan family. Maesglas is said to have an ancient burial ground towards the back of the estate next to the children's playground in Maesglas Crescent. In 2008, a new suburban railway station was to be built to serve Maesglas.

Politics

The estate is the sub-ward of the Gaer ward of Newport City Council, which elects three councillors for a four-year term. Maesglas is within the Newport West UK Parliamentary constituency and the Newport West Senedd constituency. The current MS is Jayne Bryant and the current MP is

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the award-winning BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019). Jones has also appeared in various ...

References

{{coord, 51.569, N, 3.016, W, region:GB, display=title Districts of Newport, Wales