The Westgate Hotel is a historic building in Newport city centre and is famous as the scene of the 1839 Chartist riot, the so-called Newport Rising.[1]
It is located at the bottom Stow Hill.
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When the old "West Gate" of the town was demolished in 1799, it was replaced with a hotel, and this in turn was replaced by the present building, designed by E.A. Lansdowne, in 1884. The proprietor of the Westgate Hotel at that time was Mr Samuel Dean.[2]
The hotel was rebuilt in 1886 increasing the number of floors,[3] and including the provision of an ornate ballroom.[4]
On 4 November 1839 local politician and activist John Frost led a march of 3000 Chartists into the centre of Newport. Here he discovered several Chartists had been arrested and were held in the Westgate Hotel. Troops protecting the hotel opened fire on the marchers, killing over 20 people and wounding 50 more.[5] Bullet holes from the insurrection can still be seen in pillars in the frame of the main door.[6]
Statues commemorating the 1839 Chartist uprising have been placed in the street at the front of the Westgate Hotel.[5]
The building is a Grade II listed building, but is currently on the Buildings at Risk Register as substantially unoccupied and beginning to cause concern. The main staircase and richly decorated public rooms are amongst the best surviving examples of their period.[7]
In recent times the building has been converted into a parade of shops and an entertainment complex.