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{{Infobox castle
|name=Newport Castle
|county=Monmouthshire
|city=Newport
|os grid ref=
|picture=Newport Castle - geograph.org.uk - 781279.jpg
|picture caption=
|latitude=51.590621
|longitude=-2.994993
|materials=Old Red Sandstone and local grey limestone
|height=
|condition=Ruined
|ownership=Cadw
|battles=Sacked by Owain Glyndŵr
}}
{{Hatnote|This is about the castle in [[Newport, Monmouthshire]], another Newport Castle is located in [[Newport, Pembrokeshire]].}}
'''Newport Castle''' is a ruined castle in [[Newport, Monmouthshire|Newport]], [[Monmouthshire]].  It was built in the 14th century, probably by Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester or his son-in-law, Ralph, Earl of Stafford, with the purpose of managing the crossing of the [[River Usk]].  The castle was used as administrative offices for the collection of rent and dues from local tenants, and was also a residence and a garrison.  In 1402 it was sacked by Owain Glyndŵr.  It was in disrepair by 1522, and was taken by Oliver Cromwell's forces during the Civil War.  Its use declined further in later centuries. It has been a Grade II* Listed building since 1951.

==Location==
The castle is in the heart of the city between the [[Newport Bridge, Newport|Newport Bridge]]<ref name="Newport City Council">{{cite web | url=http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=thingstosee.castle |title=Newport Castle |publisher=Newport City Council | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-2997-newport-castle-stow-hill/osmap |title=Newport Castle - OS Map | publisher=British Listed Building | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref> and the neighbouring railway bridge, on the west bank of the River Usk.<ref name="Newport City Council" /><ref name=BLB /> It is adjacent to the A4042 road,<ref name="British Express" /> at the Old Green interchange.<ref name=BLB />

==Description==
[[File:Newport Castle.jpg|thumb|Newport Castle from the east bank. Note the watergate in the centre tower.]]

The castle was built of Old Red Sandstone and local grey limestone.<ref name=n437/> Originally, it was surrounded by a moat, within a "rectangular walled court". Trett said that "in its heyday it would have dominated the town and the river crossing."<ref name="Newport Past" /> It had three tall towers, a large rectangular central tower and two two-storey polygonal end towers, which connected by straight walls. Its form is based upon the line of the river bank on which it is located. A vaulted audience chamber sat above a watergate<ref name="Newport City Council" /><ref name="British Express" /><ref name="Newport Past">{{cite web | url=http://www.newportpast.com/early/castle/ | title=Newport Castle | publisher=Newport Past | accessdate=16 July 2013 | author=Bob Trett }}</ref> &mdash; "a fortified gate... for use of people and supplies arriving by boat".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_YjJc_c4BxsC&pg=PA175 | author=Marilyn Stokstad | title= Medieval Castles | chapter=Glossary - Watergate | page=175 }}</ref> Above the watergate were turrets.<ref name="British Express" />

Within the castle were a great hall, kitchen, a gallery, chambers and, after the 15th century works by Humphrey Stafford, "a series of luxurious" apartments, those used by the lord being in the south tower.<ref name="British Express" /><ref name=n436/><ref name="Newport Past">{{cite web | url=http://www.newportpast.com/early/castle/ | title=Newport Castle | publisher=Newport Past | accessdate=16 July 2013 | author=Bob Trett }}</ref> Architectural historian John Newman states that the most remarkable feature is the T-shaped room in the central tower above the watergate, which "must have provided a remarkable ceremonial setting."<ref name=n436/>

Images of the castle are found in a town map of 1750. A plan of the castle itself was published in ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'' in 1885.<ref name="Newport Past" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newportpast.com/gallery/maps/m1750.htm |title=1750 map of Newport (castle below "Castle Green") |publisher=Newport Past | accessdate=17 July 2013 }}</ref> Newman has a detailed description of the architecture, and a plan.<ref name=n436/>

The castle site included land between the railway station and the river. Construction projects, including a railway, railway bridge and a later inner ring road, resulted in modifications to the site, including destruction of "most of the inner bailey" and the removal of the moat.<ref name=n436/><ref name="Cole" /> The courtyard no longer remains, and at its height, the castle was a "river oriented" castle with no special fortification on the roadside portion of the walled court.<ref name="Pettifer" /> Now, only the east side of the castle remains.<ref name="British Express">{{cite web |url=http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=496 |title=Newport Castle| publisher=British Express | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref>

==History==

===The first castle===
The first castle at Newport was a Norman motte possibly built by William Rufus around 1075.<ref name=n436/><ref name="Atkinson">{{cite book|author1=David Atkinson|author2=Neil Wilson|title=Wales|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YYYscZYSpJEC&pg=PA106|accessdate=17 July 2013|year=2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-538-3|page=106}}</ref> Its exact location is uncertain,<ref name="Newport Past" /> but a common theory is that it was built at Stow Hill close to [[Newport Cathedral|St Woolos Church]], about ½ mile south-west of the later castle.<ref name="British Express" /><ref name="Pettifer">{{cite book|author=Adrian Pettifer|title=Welsh Castles: A Guide by Countries|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Hs5DnKUSu9gC&pg=PA134|accessdate=17 July 2013|year=2000|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|isbn=978-0-85115-778-8|page=134}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newportpast.com/early/stow/  |title=Stow Hill | publisher=Newport Past | accessdate=18 July 2013 }}</ref>

In 1910, James Matthews, author of ''Historic Newport'', wrote that the first mention of a castle in Newport was in 1126. William, Earl of Gloucester had a garrison established at the castle in 1171, but the following year the castle was destroyed by Iorwerth.<ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> According to Trett, "It is recorded in the Welsh ''Brut y Tywysogion'' that in about 1172 King Henry II visited Castell Newyd ar Uysc (New Castle on the River Usk). In 1185 the king’s accounts show that six pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence were spent on repairs to the castle of Novi Burgi (i.e. Newport) and its buildings and bridge."<ref name="Newport Past" /> The castle was restored in 1249 by Henry III, and it was held in 1265 by the Earl of Leicester. That same year, Prince Edward occupied the castle, and in 1295, when he was the king, he ordered improvements and repairs. It was ceded to Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester in 1320 and two years later Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March attacked the castle, took its furnishings and set it on fire.<ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> Three hundred trees were needed for reconstruction.<ref name="Newport Past" /><ref name="Wales 2000">{{cite book|author=Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales|title=An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mhnYtVAUhQEC&pg=PA7|accessdate=17 July 2013|date=30 April 2000|publisher=RCAHMW|isbn=978-1-871184-22-8|page=7}}</ref>

The scanty remains of the Norman castle were probably buried by spoil from a railway tunnel dug in 1846.<ref name=n436/>

===14th and 15th centuries===
[[File:Newport Castle (Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1885).jpg|thumb|right|Ground plan of Newport Castle, showing the portions surviving in 1858. From ''Archaeologia Cambrensis'', 1885]]
The second castle at Newport, commonly known as Newport Castle, was built in the 14th century,<ref name="Pettifer" /><ref name="Cadw - Newport Castle">{{cite web | url=http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/newportcastle/?lang=en |title=Newport Castle - Early fourteenth century castle | publisher=Cadw, Welsh Government | year=2011 | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref> possibly by Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester,<ref name="British Express" /> after de Audley took control of Despenser's lands in 1326,<ref name="Pettifer" /> or, more probably,<ref name=n436/> by his son-in-law and successor Ralph, Earl of Stafford.<ref name="Pettifer" /> Historians, such as Jeremy Knight, believe it was built between 1327 and 1386. A coin made during Edward III's reign (1327–1377) was found during an 1845 excavation of the site.<ref name="Newport Past" /> It had an "imposing position" above the river and controlled the river crossing and trade upstream.<ref name=n436/><ref name="Cole" /> At that time Newport became the centre of the lordship of Wentlooge.<ref name="British Express" />

The castle was first documented in 1405, when it was repaired after being sacked in 1402 in the rebellion by Owain Glyndŵr.<ref name="Matthews p. 236">{{cite book|author=James Matthews|title=Historic Newport|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hHM1AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA236|accessdate=16 July 2013|year=1910|publisher=The William Press Limited|location=Newport-on-Usk|pages=236–237}}</ref><ref name="Cadw - Newport Castle" /> Around 1435 further work was undertaken by Humphrey Stafford, Lord of Newport.<ref name=n436/>  Owen Tudor was held prisoner within the castle in 1460.<ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> It was primarily the lordship's administrative centre,<ref name="British Express" /><ref name="Newport Past" /> an adjunct to their main estate for collecting local tenants' dues and rent.<ref name="Newman p. 12">{{cite book|author=John Newman|title=Gwent/Monmouthshire|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&pg=PR12|accessdate=17 July 2013|date=January 2000|publisher=Yale University Press Academic|isbn=978-0-300-09630-9|page=12}}</ref> It was rarely used as the lord's residence.<ref name="Newport City Council" />

===16th to 19th centuries===
It was occupied in the early 16th century by Henry VIII's uncle, Jasper Tudor.<ref name="Newport City Council" /><ref name="Cole" /> In 1521, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was executed there for treason.<ref name="British Express" /> Seized by Henry VIII in 1521, the castle was held by the king<ref name="Matthews p. 236" /><ref>{{cite book|title=History of St. Gwynllyw' Church, Newport-on-Usk: Together with Some Historical Notes on the Immediate Neighbourhood|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=O0UuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA55|accessdate=16 July 2013|year=1893|publisher=Robert H. Johns|location=Newport|pages=55–57}}</ref> until 1547 when it was then possessed by Edward VI. It had suffered from lack of upkeep from 1522, at which date it was already reported to be in disrepair.<ref name=n436/><ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> William Herbert of St. Julian leased the castle starting in 1548.<ref name=name=n436/><ref name="Matthews p. 236" />

In 1645, during the Civil War, Colonel Henry Herbert established a garrison of 50 troops at the castle, which was taken by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1648.<ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> The Herbert and Morgan families held it over a 300-year period that began in 1548. It was in a state of ruin by 1743.<ref name=name=n436/><ref name="Matthews p. 236" /> 
[[File:River Usk, Newport - geograph.org.uk - 39611.jpg|thumb|Trains pass near to the castle on the railway bridge crossing the River Usk]]
In the 19th century, the buildings within the ruin were used as a tannery and later as a brewery.<ref name="British Express" /><ref name=name=n436/> The hall's traceried windows were destroyed in that century, and the brewery was destroyed by a fire in 1883. In 1891, the south tower came into the ownership of the Corporation, and the rest of the castle was bought by Lord Tredegar in 1899. The Office of Works became the guardian of the castle between 1930 and 1950, at which time there was a refurbishment of the stonework.<ref name=name=n436/>

===20th and 21st centuries===
The east side is the only part of the castle to survive.<ref name="British Express" /> It has been a Grade II* Listed building since 1951.<ref name=BLB>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-2997-newport-castle-stow-hill | title=Newport Castle | publisher=British Listed Building | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref>  An inner ring road was built alongside the castle in 1970.<ref name="British Express" /><ref name=name=n436>{{cite book|author=John Newman|title=Gwent/Monmouthshire|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=knRf4U60QjcC&pg=PR436|accessdate=17 July 2013|date=January 2000|publisher=YALE University Press ACADEMIC|isbn=978-0-300-09630-9|pages=436–437}}</ref> The ruins of the castle were permanently fenced off in 2003, followed by the closure of the public footpath in 2006.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/4758629.stm Path closed after castle crimes] BBC.co.uk, May 10, 2006, accessed December 21, 2010</ref> It has been closed since 2011, due to safety concerns.<ref name="Cadw - Newport Castle" />

==In popular culture==
[[File:Newport Castle by JMW Turner.jpg|thumb|right|''Newport Castle'' by J. M. W.  Turner, c.1796, watercolour and graphite on paper.]]
In about 1796 J. M. W. Turner made a "picturesque, romantic" painting of the ruin,<ref name="British Express" /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-newport-castle-tw0379 | title=Newport Castle, Joseph Mallord William Turner, c.1796 | publisher=Tate | accessdate=16 July 2013 }}</ref> as did other artists.<ref name="British Express" />

The castle was the inspiration for the 1911 poem "Days That Have Been" by Newport-born W. H. Davies.<ref>Barber, C. (ed) 1987, ''Hando's Gwent - Volume 2'', Blorenge Books: Abergavenny, ISBN 0-9510444-9-4, p. 153</ref>
{{Quote box |width=300px |align=right |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=right
 |quote  =<poem>
'''Days That Have Been''' 
Can I forget the sweet days that have been,
When poetry first began to warm my blood;
When from the hills of Gwent I saw the earth
Burned into two by Severn's silver flood:

When I would go alone at night to see
The moonlight, like a big white butterfly,
Dreaming on that old castle near Caerleon,
While at its side the Usk went softly by:
</poem> |source = from ''Songs Of Joy and Others'' (1911)<ref>Davies, W. H. 1911, ''Songs of Joy and Others'', Fifield</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal | title=Newport Castle | author=Jeremy K. Knight | year=1991 | journal=The Monmouthshire Antiquary | volume=7 | pages=17–42 }}

==Outside links==
{{commonscat|Newport Castle}}
*[http://www.castlewales.com/newportg.html Newport castle at Castlewales.com]
*[http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewobject/llgc-id:1338855/article/000017977  H. G. Jones, "Memories of Newport Castle as a brewery", Gwent Local History, no.65, 1988, pp.17-18] 
*[http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/92921 Newport Castle Photo]