County Hall ( cy, Neuadd y Sir Cwmbrân) was a municipal facility on Turnpike Road in

Croesyceiliog Croesyceiliog (, ''Cockerel's Cross'') is a suburb of Cwmbran, Wales. Housing Croesyceiliog is primarily a residential district and contains a wide variety of housing from Victorian terraces and even older Welsh cottages to property built betw ...

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to pro ...

in Wales. It was the headquarters of

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gwent) was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was ...

from 1978 to 1996 and of

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) ( cy, Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 an ...

from 1996 to 2013.

History

For much of the 20th century

had held its meetings in the Shire Hall in Newport. After finding that the Shire Hall facilities were too cramped, county leaders decided to procure modern facilities: the site they selected was open land to the east of Turnpike Road in

. Construction of the new building started in 1969. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the new building was destined to become the home of

. It was designed by

Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall RMJM (Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall) is one of the largest architecture and design networks in the world. Services include architecture, development management, engineering, interior design, landscape design, lead consultancy, master planning, ...

, built at a cost of £9 million and was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

on 19 April 1978. The design for the seven-storey building involved a two winged structure; each of the wings featured continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below; there was a separate low-rise structure containing the council chamber and there was a bunker in the basement for the use of county leaders in the case of a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear wa ...

. On 1 April 1996, under the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

, Gwent was abolished and the building was acquired by the newly formed

. However, after the building was found to have

concrete cancer Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse construction aggregate, aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after wa ...

, and the potential rectification work required was estimated at £30 million, the county council decided it had no further use for the building. After the county council had moved to smaller offices at

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

in May 2013, County Hall in Cwmbran was demolished and the cleared site was sold to

Kier Group Kier Group plc is a British construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, and the Private Finance Initiative. Founded in 1928 in Stoke-on-Trent it initially specialised in concrete enginee ...

for a residential development involving 140 new houses.

Notes

References

{{reflist County halls in Wales Buildings and structures in Torfaen Government buildings completed in 1978