Rogerstone ( cy, Tŷ du, meaning "Black house") is a large village and
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
(parish) in
Newport, Wales
Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest a ...
. The area is governed by
Newport City Council
Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards.
The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...
. The village falls within the ancient parish of
Bassaleg
Bassaleg ( cy, Basaleg) is a suburb on the west side of Newport, Wales. It is in the Graig electoral ward and community.Bassaleg is located two miles northwest of Newport city centre. Bassaleg is bounded by the A467 road (A4072) to the east, th ...
and historic county of
Monmouthshire.
The parish lies at the gateway to the Sirhowy valley, to the north of Newport on the eastern side of the
Ebbw River
The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River ( Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself ...
. It is bounded by the
M4 motorway to the south, the
Ebbw River
The Ebbw River (; cy, Afon Ebwy) is a river in South Wales which gives its name to the town of Ebbw Vale. The Ebbw River is joined by the Ebbw Fach River ( Welsh: Afon Ebwy Fach meaning 'little Ebbw river') at Aberbeeg. The Ebbw Fach is itself ...
to the west, the Henllys Vale to the east and the city boundary with
Caerphilly county borough to the north.
Rogerstone railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = Rogerstone railway station (geograph 5521240).jpg
, borough = Rogerstone, Newport
, country = Wales
, coordinates =
, grid_ ...
is on the
Ebbw Valley Railway
The Ebbw Valley Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy) is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wales Rail provides an hourly passenger service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central, and an hou ...
. It opened on 6 February 2008 and links Ebbw Vale to and via Rogerstone.
Pye Corner railway station
Pye Corner railway station is a station serving a residential area in the west of Newport, Wales, between the suburbs of Bassaleg and High Cross. It opened on 14 December 2014.
History
Proposal
A report published by the South East Wales Tran ...
, to the south of the ward and on the same line, was opened on 14 December 2014.
History
The original settlement dates back to
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
times when Rogerstone Castle was built in the early part of the 12th century. The name is said to originate from Roger de Haia, the Norman Lord who was responsible for the building of the
castle, the remains of which are reduced to a low bush and tree covered
motte
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
adjoining the lower section of Tregwilym Road. The
Welsh name for Rogerstone "Tŷ Du" translates to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as "Black House", though no one is entirely sure why it has this name.
The larger parish of Rogerstone started as two distinct settlements of Tregwilym and Tydu, Tregwilym taking its name from the land owner,
William de Berkerolle. These hamlets remained predominantly rural until the advent of the
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. The population grew in response to the
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
,
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
and
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
industries which flourished near the
South Wales coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...
. At one point, the village boasted the longest aluminium rolling mill in Western Europe and one of the largest marshalling yards on the
Great Western Railway network.
The village played host to
John Frost and his fellow
Chartists
Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...
on their historic march from the valleys to Newport. The former
Welsh Oak public house just north of the parish was one of the main meeting points for the protestors before they set off through the parish towards the
Westgate Hotel and the events that culminated in the
Newport Rising
The Newport Rising was the last large-scale armed rising in Wales, by Chartists whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 Chartism, Chartist sympathisers, under ...
.
The parish sits astride the
Crumlin branch of the
Monmouthshire Canal
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, wit ...
and plays host to the
Fourteen Locks
Fourteen Locks () is a series of locks, also known as the Cefn Flight, on the Crumlin arm of the Monmouthshire Canal at Rogerstone in Newport, South Wales. The flight of locks was completed in 1799 and raises the water level 160 ft (5 ...
. The canal opened in 1798 but was dogged by water supply problems and competition from the railways and by 1930, it had finally succumbed. It has since been restored and is a popular local attraction.
Rogerstone Library is part of
Newport City Council
Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards.
The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...
's library service, and is officially titled Rogerstone Library and Information Centre. The building was opened in 1905 as a
Carnegie Library.
Rogerstone power station was commissioned in 1958 by the
Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Janua ...
, after only three years work on the site.
It comprised two
C.A. Parsons 60 MW
turbo-alternators with a net electricity output capability of 114 MW.
The
Babcock & Wilcox
Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...
coal-fired
pulverised fuel boilers produced 138 kg/s of steam delivered to the turbines at 62.1
bar and 482 °C.
Cooling for the station was by water from the River Ebbw and two reinforced concrete
cooling tower
A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat an ...
s each with a capacity of 2.25 million gallons per hour (2.84 m
3/s). There was a single chimney. It was the first station in the UK to use aluminium cladding.
The generating capacity and electricity output from the station was as follows.
The station was decommissioned in the late 1980s; and the boiler house, cooling towers and chimney were demolished in 1991. The Afon Village housing development now occupies the site.
Governance
Prior to 2022 Rogerstone was also an
electoral ward, represented by three councillors on
Newport City Council
Newport City Council () is the governing body for Newport, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It consists of 51 councillors, who represent the city's 20 wards.
The council is currently, and has historically been, held by the Labour Party. ...
. Following a local government boundary review, Rogerstone was divided into three wards, namely Rogerstone East (1 councillor), Rogerstone North (1 councillor) and Rogerstone West (2 councillors).
Modern-day Rogerstone
The designation of the Rogerstone section of the canal as part of the
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...
(route 47) and more recent efforts to restore parts of the canal have made the site a popular tourist attraction. Funding for this work was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The site houses the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre, which was the subject of an arson attack in 2011 that ruined the inside of the centre. It has now been fully refurbished and is open to the public.
The area contains a number of other popular open spaces including the Welfare Grounds and the Mescoed Mawr woodlands.
Rogerstone was traditionally an industrial, working-class village, but housing developments such as Afon Village, on the site of the former
power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many ...
and Jubilee Park, on the site of the former
Novelis
Novelis Inc. is an American industrial aluminum company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is an independent subsidiary of multinational aluminium and copper manufacturing company Hindalco Industries. Novelis is a producer of r ...
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
works, have added more than 2,000 dwellings and an ever-increasing middle-class population. This has been influenced by its proximity to the
M4 motorway and the
Ebbw Valley Railway
The Ebbw Valley Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Cwm Ebwy) is a branch line of the South Wales Main Line in South Wales. Transport for Wales Rail provides an hourly passenger service each way between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central, and an hou ...
.
In 2005,
Warburtons opened a new bakery in the village, to supply bakery products across South Wales. However, after the
financial crisis of 2007 to 2008, in 2010, the company announced the closure of the facility, and the loss of 140 jobs. The plant was later bought by local family owned
Brace's Bakery
Brace's Bakery is a Crumlin-based Welsh bakery and bakery products brand.
Founders
Born in Abercarn, George Brace, an engine house driver at the Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale, started with a loan from his family a small bakery in 1902 in ...
.
The
Tiny Rebel
Tiny Rebel is a craft brewery in Rogerstone, Newport, Wales, Newport, Wales.
Products
Tiny Rebel beers are available in cask, keg, bottle and can. The company is known for its Cwtch (rhyming with "butch" and meaning "cuddle" in Welsh language, ...
microbrewery is based in Rogerstone and opened their £2.6 million brewery and bar at the Wern Industrial Estate in 2017. Planning permission was given in 2019 for the addition of a new distribution centre at the site.
There are four primary schools within Rogerstone; Rogerstone Primary, Mount Pleasant Primary, High Cross Primary and Jubilee Park Primary. Secondary education for the area is largely provided at
Bassaleg School
Bassaleg School ( cy, Ysgol Basaleg) is a comprehensive secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 18 years, situated in the suburb of Bassaleg on the western side of the city of Newport, South Wales. The present buildings of the school range in age ...
in the neighbouring
Graig ward.
In 2014,
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...
David Cameron visited pupils at Mount Pleasant Primary
as part of the events surrounding the 2014
NATO summit at the nearby
Celtic Manor Resort
Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch Hill in eastern Newport, near Junction 24 ...
. To commemorate the event, one of the streets at the nearby Jubilee Park housing development was subsequently named Obama Grove.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Districts of Newport, Wales
Former wards of Newport, Wales
Communities in Newport, Wales