Editing Westgate Hotel

{{Short description|Historic hotel in Newport, Wales}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Westgate Hotel
| native_name         = Gwesty Porth Gorllewin
| native_name_lang    = cym
| logo                = 
| logo_size           = 
| logo_alt            = 
| logo_caption        = 
| image               = File:Newport, Westgate Hotel (geograph 5040411).jpg
| image_size          = 
| image_alt           = A view of the Westgate Hotel
| image_caption       = Westgate Hotel from Westgate Square
| map_type            = Wales Newport
| map_alt             = Location within Newport
| map_caption         = Location within Newport
| map_size            = 
| map_dot_label       = 
| map_dot_mark        = 
| relief              = 
| former_names        = 
| alternate_names     = 
| etymology           = 
| status              = Mostly derelict
| cancelled           = 
| topped_out          = 
| building_type       = 
| architectural_style = [[Regency architecture|Regency]] and [[French Renaissance architecture|French Renaissance]]
| classification      = [[Grade II listed]]
| location            = [[Commercial Street, Newport|Commercial Street]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]]
| address             = Westgate Buildings, Commercial Street
| location_city       = [[Newport, Wales|Newport]]
| location_country    = [[Wales]]
| coordinates         = {{coord|51.587814|-2.996713|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| altitude            = 
| current_tenants     = Unoccupied
| namesake            = 
| groundbreaking_date = 
| start_date          = 
| stop_date           = 
| est_completion      = 
| topped_out_date     = 
| completion_date     = 
| opened_date         = 1884
| inauguration_date   = 
| relocated_date      = 
| renovation_date     = 1950
| closing_date        = 2000s
| demolition_date     = <!-- or | destruction_date    = -->
| cost                = 
| ren_cost            = 
| client              = 
| owner               = 
| landlord            = 
| affiliation         = 
| height              = 
| architectural       = 
| tip                 = 
| antenna_spire       = 
| roof                = 
| top_floor           = 
| observatory         = 
| diameter            = 
| circumference       = 
| weight              = 
| other_dimensions    = 
| structural_system   = 
| material            = 
| size                = 
| floor_count         = 
| floor_area          = 
| elevator_count      = 
| grounds_area        = 
| architect           = E. A. Lansdowne
| architecture_firm   = 
| developer           = 
| engineer            = 
| structural_engineer = 
| services_engineer   = 
| civil_engineer      = 
| other_designers     = 
| quantity_surveyor   = 
| main_contractor     = 
| awards              = 
| designations        = 
| known_for           = 
| ren_architect       = 
| ren_firm            = 
| ren_engineer        = 
| ren_str_engineer    = 
| ren_serv_engineer   = 
| ren_civ_engineer    = 
| ren_oth_designers   = 
| ren_qty_surveyor    = 
| ren_contractor      = 
| ren_awards          = 
| rooms               = <!-- or | unit_count          = -->
| parking             = 
| website             = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| embed               = 
| embedded            = 
| references          = 
| footnotes           = 
}}
{{for|the Las Vegas hotel formerly known as the Las Vegas Hilton|Westgate Las Vegas}}

The '''Westgate Hotel''', Commercial Street, [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], [[Wales]] is a hotel building dating from the 19th century. On 4 November 1839 the hotel saw the major scenes of the [[Newport Rising]], when 3,000 [[Chartism|Chartists]], some of them armed, led by [[John Frost (Chartist)|John Frost]] marched on Newport to attempt to secure the release of five of their number who were being held under arrest at the hotel. In the fighting between about 60 soldiers of the [[45th Regiment of Foot]] and police on one side, and a larger number of Chartists on the other, 10-22 Chartists were killed and more than 50 wounded. The hotel is a [[Listed building|Grade II listed building]].<ref>{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=3015|desc=Westgate Hotel|grade=II|access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref>

==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>

==Chartist legacy==
In 1991 three statues, titled "Union, Prudence, Energy" by sculptor Christopher Kelly, commemorating the 1839 Chartist uprising were installed on Commercial Street in front of the hotel.<ref name="BBC John Frost" /> The hotel also featured in the 1978 [[Chartist Mural]] which was demolished during the 2013 development of [[Friars Walk, Newport|Friars Walk]] in Newport city centre. 

The story of the rebellion was reflected in the [[Manic Street Preachers]]' 2014 song [[Futurology (album)|"The View from Stow Hill"]].<ref>[http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com/cat-news/futurology-notes-band/ Notes from the Band]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chartists.net/Newport-rebellion-1839.htm|title=Newport rebellion, 1839 - the battle for the Westgate Hotel|publisher=Chartist Ancestors|access-date=2010-09-30}}</ref>

In July 2019, Our Chartist Heritage announced they would re-open part of the Westgate Buildings for a temporary display. The charity worked with the consortium who own the building, and local Newport graphic artist Josh Cranton, to bring the building up to a viable state for public access, ahead of the anniversary of the Chartist Rising. The interior was repainted and a free display was organised to commemorate the events of the rising.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17714299.westgate-hotel-to-open-its-doors-for-the-launch-of-newport-rising-graphic-novel/|title=Hotel at the centre of Chartist uprising to open its doors for first time in more than a decade for graphic novel launch|website=South Wales Argus|language=en|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref> 

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Westgate Hotel interior.jpg|Westgate Hotel interior shown during the 2019 partial opening
Image:Westgate Hotel.jpg|The attack of the [[Chartism|Chartists]] on the Westgate Hotel, 4 November 1839
File:Union, Prudence, Energy - geograph.org.uk - 524590.jpg|''Union, Prudence, Energy'', sculpture outside The Westgate Hotel commemorating the Chartist Movement and 1839 Newport Rising
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Commons Category|Westgate Hotel, Newport}}
{{Coord|51.5876|-2.9966|type:landmark_region:GB-NWP|display=title}}
{{City of Newport}}
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1884]]
[[Category:History of Newport, Wales]]
[[Category:Culture in Newport, Wales]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Newport, Wales]]
[[Category:Structures on the Heritage at Risk register]]
[[Category:Defunct hotels in Wales]]