Friends of Newport Museum and Art Gallery

  The Development of  Newport Docks  Newport Museum and Art Gallery, closed at the moment, had a photographic exhibition about the development of Newport Docks.  The Newport Transporter Bridge under construction, 7 June 1903 The Newport Ship Newport's riverside wharves and jetties have existed at this major trading port since at least the fifteenth century, as evidenced by the discovery of The Newport Ship trading vessel dating from 1465-6. See David Jordan's painting below. Approaching Newport” by David Jordan  The Monmouthshire Canal The town's industrial significance was established in 1799 with the opening of the Monmouthshire Canal (nprn 85125). Subsequent development made Newport docks the the outlet for all iron and coal production of the Monmouthshire Valleys of Rhymney, Ebbw, Sirhowy and Afon Llwyd.  The Monmouthshire Canal Company with its canal and tramroads was responsible for the growth of Newport, which became the third largest coal port in Britain.  In 1796 t

  John Frost’s Return to Newport On Monday 11 August 1856, John Frost returned to Newport for the first time in 17 years.    He arrived from Bristol at about 3 pm that afternoon on a steam packet named the  Swift . John Frost in his later years   A large crowd, estimated to be in the hundreds, waited for his arrival at the packet slip.    Gathering on the town bridge and the banks of the River Usk, they  soon recognised him.    As the vessel came closer to the river bank, shouts of welcome were raised, and Frost and his friends on board the steamer responded.   A steam packet arriving in Newport This was the last leg of a long journey back to his homeland.    Having been exiled in Tasmania for his part in the Newport Rising of 1839, he had eventually received a pardon in 1854.    This was largely due to the efforts of the radical MP, Thomas  Duncombe, who had persuaded the Prime Minister, Lord Aberdeen, to grant Frost a pardon on the condition that he would never return to Britain.   

  Thomas Mawson in Monmouthshire By kind permission of Newportpast.com I was invited to write an article on Thomas Mawson in Wales for this Spring’s edition of Oriel, the magazine of the Friends of National Museum Wales. Mawson was the foremost landscape architect of his time (1861-1933) and the most notable of his designs in Wales are Dyffryn Gardens and Belle Vue Park, about which I have written in a blog for the MAA last year. My recent research covering the whole of Wales revealed more than I expected, especially in Monmouthshire. Mawson had four commissions in our county, one in Blackwood at Maes Manor and three in Newport, of which two are parks and one a private house.  Maes Manor at Blackwood near Newport was originally known as Maesruddud and is now an hotel set in the countryside. British Listed Buildings notes it warrants Grade II status  as an example of a small early C20th industrialist's country house retaining its original character, and representative of the early C