Newport Civic Centre ( cy, Canolfan Ddinesig Casnewydd) is a municipal building in Godfrey Road in Newport, South Wales. The civic centre, which is the headquarters of

Newport City Council Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards. The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...

, is a

Grade II* Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

History

Commercial Street and Town Hall, Newport

The first town hall, which was located in Commercial Street and designed in the

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

, was officially opened on 31 January 1843; after this was found to be too small it was replaced a second structure, also in Commercial Street, which was designed by

Thomas Meakin Lockwood Thomas Meakin Lockwood (1830 – 15 July 1900) was an English architect whose main works are in and around Chester, Cheshire. He was born in London, and brought up in East Anglia. From 1851 he was articled to Philip Causton Lockwood, the B ...

in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought a ...

and completed in 1885. After deciding the second town hall was also inadequate for their needs, civic leaders chose to procure a new civic centre: the site they selected had previously been occupied by a property known as St Mary's Lodge in Fields Road. The ceremonial first sod on the new building was cut by King George VI, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, on 14 July 1937. Following a design competition, it was designed by

Thomas Cecil Howitt Thomas Cecil Howitt, OBE (6 June 1889 - 3 September 1968) was a British provincial architect of the 20th Century. Howitt is chiefly remembered for designing prominent public buildings, such as the Council House and Processional Way in Nottingh ...

in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style and built using Portland stone. Progress was delayed by the advent of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

but resumed after the war: the building was fitted out, a collection of 12 murals by the German artist Hans Feibusch were installed and the clock tower was finished. The building, which Newman in ''The Buildings of Wales'' described as "something of a disappointment", finally opened in 1964. The design involved a very wide symmetrical frontage with 37 bays facing Fields Road; the central section of five bays featured a huge full-height round-headed entrance on the ground floor and a clock tower above; there were wings to the east and west, each of seven bays, and beyond that there were side bays, each of nine bays. A court complex was built to the south of the main building between 1989 and 1991. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the mayor's parlour. The building was the meeting place of Newport Borough Council until the town was granted formal

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

as part of a contest for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 and the building then became the home of

. A sandstone plaque to commemorate the 2010 Ryder Cup at the

Celtic Manor Resort Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch Hill in eastern Newport, near Junction 24 ...

, which had been placed in the pavement outside the civic centre, was unveiled on 7 October 2011. Works of art in the civic centre include a sculpture by David Evans depicting two straining miners entitled "Labour".

References

External links

Newport City Council
* {{City of Newport Buildings and structures completed in 1940 Art Deco architecture in Wales City and town halls in Wales Government buildings in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Newport, Wales Culture in Newport, Wales Landmarks in Newport, Wales Government buildings completed in 1964