Editing Westgate Hotel (section)

==History==
{{main|Newport Rising}}
After the demolition of Newport's  original West [[city gate]], the site was reclaimed and a hotel constructed in 1779 on the site of a previous 15th-century house.

The Westgate Hotel was the location of the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority in Great Britain. On 4 November 1839, local politician and activist [[John Frost (Chartist)|John Frost]] led a protest march of 3,000 [[Chartism|Chartists]], some of them armed, into the centre of Newport. Here he discovered that several Chartists had been arrested and were being held in the Westgate Hotel by police, who were reinforced by soldiers of the 45th Regiment of Foot. Firing began (it is unclear who fired first),<ref name="Andrews 38">{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Chris |title=Britain, 1750-1900 Industry, Trade and Politics |date=2002 |publisher=Nelson Thornes |isbn=9780748766741 |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fpFMyWhmdAC&dq=Westgate+Newport+Chartists&pg=PA38 |access-date=15 September 2022}}</ref><ref name="Jones 151">{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=David |title=The last rising : the Newport Chartist insurrection of 1839 |date=1999 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=070831452X |pages=151 |url=https://archive.org/details/lastrisingnewpor0000jone_a9t4/page/150/mode/2up?q=westgate |access-date=15 September 2022}}</ref> and in the fighting 10-22 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded.<ref name="BBC John Frost">''[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/historical_figures/johnfrost.shtml John Frost: Leader of the Chartist Rebellion]'', BBC Wales southeast, last update August 2009. Retrieved 2011-10-30.</ref> As many as 80 shots were fired into the hotel during the rising.<ref name="Jones 151" /> Small holes in the pillars at the entrance to the hotel are assumed, by some, to be bullet holes from the insurrection, although this has not been evidenced.<ref>[https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/18012308.story-westgate-hotel-central-role-chartist-uprising/ Westgate Hotel pillars]</ref> The hotel was substantially rebuilt in 1884 but the original pillars were retained,<ref>{{Coflein|num=21116 |desc=Westgate Hotel, Newport |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref> and the present structure built in [[French Renaissance]] style. Designed by local architect E. A. Lansdowne, it incorporated six shops at ground floor level to increase the site's rental income, and placed a new five-storey hotel above, with twice the floor size of the hotel it replaced,<ref name=building-news-hotel>{{cite news |url=http://www.newportpast.com/gallery/prints/westgate1.htm |title=The New Westgate Hotel Newport Mon |publisher=The Building News |date=9 April 1886 |access-date=3 February 2011}}</ref> which included an ornate ballroom.<ref name=building-news-ballroom>{{cite news |url=http://www.newportpast.com/gallery/prints/westgate_ballroom.htm |title=The Ball Room, Westgate Hotel Newport Mon |publisher=The Building News |date=23 April 1886 |access-date=3 February 2011}}</ref> Built by local builder John Linton, it was leased from its opening in 1886 to Samuel Dean of the Castle Hotel for twenty one years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiseek.com/2009/1886-westgate-hotel-newport-monmouthshire/#.U71w5kDRbTo|title=1886- Westgate Hotel, Newport, Wales|publisher=The Building News/Archiseek|date=9 April 1886|access-date=9 July 2014}}</ref>

In 2009 the building was placed on the [[Heritage at Risk Register|Buildings at Risk Register]] as it had been substantially unoccupied for many years and the condition of its interior was beginning to cause concern. The main staircase and richly decorated public rooms are amongst the best surviving examples in the UK of their period.<ref name=buildings-at-risk>{{cite report |page=54 |url=http://www.newport.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/cont033562.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030052249/http://www.newport.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/report/cont033562.pdf |archive-date=2007-10-30 |url-status=live |title=Register of Buildings at Risk |publisher=Newport City Council |date=June 2009 |access-date=3 February 2011}}</ref> In 2012 [[Newport Unlimited]] announced an initiative to bring the hotel back into use.<ref>[http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9664119.Call_to_revamp_historic_Newport_hotels/ Westgate Hotel investigation]</ref> In May 2017 the property was offered for auction with a guide price of between £1.5M and £1.75M. The building was purchased in October 2017 by Rugby Property Assets Limited of Warwickshire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/15607528.newports-westgate-hotel-sold-auctioneer-confirms/|title=Newport's Westgate Hotel sold|website=South Wales Argus|language=en|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref> By 2024, little progress had been made, the building remained subject to vandalism and decay, and the [[Newport City Council|council]] was considering [[enforcement]] action.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67941812|first1=Nicholas|last1=Thomas|first2=Paul|last2=Pigott|title=Westgate: Decay threatens historic Chartist hotel|publisher=[[South Wales Argus]]|date=11 January 2024|access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>