History

The Memorial Gates at the Rodney Parade entrance were erected 1923/4 as a memorial to those members of the Newport Athletic Club who had given their lives in WWI. They were unveiled by Lord Tredegar on 5 September 1923.

The club was founded in 1874 and originally they played at the Marshes. A new ground was leased in 1877 and a pavilion built. The club won so many matches that it is described in One Hundred Years of Newport Rugby (Jack Davies, 1974) as being so successful that “no other club in the world can boast of achievements anywhere approaching this”.

A new grandstand was opened in 1923 designed by F C Parfitt and in 1961 a new Social Centre was begun. Davies says “it was thought to be finest social centre in the United Kingdom in a club catering for so many different sporting activities without any grants of any kind”.

The memorial gates entrance is no longer used and instead access to the ground is a short way along Grafton Street.

Exterior

The neo-classical Portland stone gate piers have stepped bases and dentil cornices. These are topped by curiously designed stepped acroteria with a fluted drum cap. The cap to the right-hand pier had been dislodged and was in need of resetting on inspection in March 2020. The side faces have advanced panels from which the gates are hung and these have Greek fret ornament to the top. The outward faces of the piers have bronze panels commemorating members of the Newport Athletic Club who died in WWI.

The pair of steel gates have simple detail with Greek fret panels to the dog bar, and foliate panels to the four corners of each gate. They display the dates 1914 1918 and the gates are topped by spearhead finials.
Modern overhead signage is hung from brackets fixed to the rear faces of the piers.

Reasons for Listing

Included as a good example of First World War Memorial Gates and as a formal entrance to one of Wales’s most important sporting venues.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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