Newport Market is a traditional Victorianindoor market, built in 1854 in Newport, South Wales. It is an early example of a large-span cast iron-frame building featuring a glass-filled barrel roof. Newport bus station is located immediately outside the Upper Dock Street entrance to Newport Market and a short walk from Newport railway station. It is subject to a current planning application for a £12m scheme to provide a mixed use site with a tech hub, apartments, market units, as well as restaurants. Newport City Council provided their approval in 2018. It is being designed along the model of the successful Cardiff venue Tramshed.
History
A market building had occupied the High Street end of the site from around 1817, but was too small by the middle of the century, and was extended to the new Dock Street in 1865. In 1885 the Corporation of Newport purchased the site and built the present building. The foundations for the present office buildings and tower at the Dock Street end were laid on 13 September 1887 and they were opened by the then Mayor of NewportHenry Faulkner on 1 May 1889. The High Street end was re-aligned and rebuilt in 1934, and comprised an arcade entrance to the market, shops, and a department store, Hills & Steele. An extension at the High Street end was opened by Mayor Robert Frank Allen on 25 November 1987. It is a Grade II-Listed building situated in the city centre, owned and operated by Newport City Council.
Facilities
The market houses over 100 stalls over two floors offering a variety of high-quality fresh produce and stock. Stalls include a first-class butchers, greengrocers, a fishmonger, a traditional confectioner's stall as well as being home to Newport's premier Welsh shop, Newport Welsh Gifts. An eclectic selection of Art and Craft stalls, coffee shops and hairdressers reside upstairs alongside the Jerome Gatehouse Collection Military band archive and a huge matchstick model of the Newport Transporter Bridge. The market also houses a Business Centre on the upper floors. Entrances to the market are located in Upper Dock Street, High Street, Market Street and Griffin Street.
Redevelopment
In April 2012 a £750,000 refurbishment scheme was confirmed In 2018, developers Loft Co announced that Newport City Council approved their plans for a 250-year development lease with the council, subject to contracts, for a "24-hour working/living space with a tech hub, apartments and performance space while retaining market units and a food hall." Loft Co are designing the plans along the style of their previous work on Cardiff's Tramshed, Barry's and Porthcawl's Jennings Building. Only a few of the stallholders, about 5 of 35, will return after the development.
