Newport Arcade, South Wales

Newport Arcade is a small, late-Victorian gem in this South Wales town a few miles east of Cardiff.

The facade at the (Market) street end has a stone archway over the entrance, with the name Newport Arcade in classy black over the walkway. There are beautiful original spiral staircases in most of the shop units still today, and an ironwork balcony runs along the upper floor along one side of the arcade, with a bridge across to the first floor offices above the shops. From the ground floor it is just possible to spot a corner of stained glass window in one of the upstairs premises.

This arcade is bustling, busy and had 100% occupancy at the time of my visit in October 2024. There are the classic arcade independent businesses here like barbers, hair salons, tattoo parlour, craft shop, games shop, vinyl records (with skateboards also for sale), jewellery repairs and an excellent coffee shop, which just opened a second branch, giving it a presence at both ends of the arcade. And there are more unusual businesses, too: a baby scans place, which wouldn’t have been a thing 20 years ago, whereas the coach tours travel agents looked like something the arcade might have had 50 or 60 years ago.

Rather like Lorne Arcade in Ayr, the owners of Newport Arcade are a local couple with a hands-on approach to the arcade’s management (they were working away in one of the arcade coffee spots at the time of our visit), ensuring a good range of interesting, independent businesses, as this arcade has always had since it opened in 1895.

My pick of the arcade’s past

Newport was a fast-growing and changing town when the decision was made to build this ‘new’ arcade in 1893. New roads were being built as well as the railway station at the same time, so it took over two years for the arcade itself to be completed and ready for occupancy.

The Newport Arcade opened in December 1895. It was built by Pritchard’s Wine & Spirit Company, which had been trading since 1763, and theirs was one of the shops in place on opening day, others being a jeweller’s; a clothes shop; an art supplies shop; a boot shop; a music shop; a florist’s; a hairdresser; a tobacconist; a sweet shop; and a fancy goods store. Upstairs there were offices occupied by accountants, stockbrokers and metal merchants.

In 1897, there was a big tussle between owners of the rival gas and electric companies over which source of energy should be used to light buildings and public places. The Newport Gas Company reported that in New York, London and Paris ‘incandescent gas’ lights had ‘eclipsed’ electric light as the most effective source, so he was pleased to announce that this arcade in Newport had recently switched from electricity to gas for its lighting…

A break-in in March 1902 targeted the upstairs offices in the arcade, but on finding all the safes virtually empty there, the burglars raided the wine and spirits shop, helping themselves to cigars and alcohol before making off with the contents of the till. (South Wales Daily News, 4 March 1902 – National Library Wales)

There was no report of those burglars being caught, whereas a man who ‘tried on’ a coat and then just walked off wearing it was quickly caught by the local postie who watched the whole incident as he delivered letters one morning in December of the same year. The man blamed ‘the horror of drink,’ but he was sent to jail for two months.

Sources for the above stories all from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk and specifically: 1) South Wales Weekly Argus, 14 December 1895 – British Library Board; 2) Cardiff Times, 13 February 1897 – National Library of Wales; 3) South Wales Daily News, 4 March 1902 – National Library Wales; 4) Star of Gwent, 19 December 1902 – British Library Board.