Newport, Wales
city in south east Wales, United Kingdom
Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd [kasˈnɛwɨð]) is a city and county borough in Wales, on the River Usk near its confluence with the Severn Estuary, approximately 12 mi (19 km) northeast of Cardiff. The population grew significantly between the 2011 and the 2021 census, increasing from 145,700 to 159,587, the largest growth of any unitary authority in Wales. Newport is the third-largest principal authority with city status in Wales and the sixth most populous overall. Newport became a unitary authority in 1996 and forms part of the Cardiff–Newport metropolitan area, and the Cardiff Capital Region.
Newport has been a port since the Middle Ages, originating with the construction of Newport Castle by the Normans. The town eventually outgrew the earlier Roman settlement of Caerleon, located just upstream and now incorporated into the city. Newport received its first charter in 1314. The town experienced significant growth during the 19th century, as its port became a major hub for coal exports from the eastern South Wales Valleys. For a time, Newport was the largest coal-exporting port in Wales, until Cardiff surpassed it in the mid-1800s. Newport was also the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Newport, Wales” as city in south east Wales, United Kingdom. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in south east Wales, United Kingdom. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q101254. VIAF identifies the subject as 158623447. The Library of Congress control number is no2004040135. Authority coordinates are 51.589, -2.998. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2021, 1996 and 1314.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Newport, Wales”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Newport, Wales primary sources, Newport, Wales archive and Newport research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Newport, Wales”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Newport, Wales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.