For much of the 20th century Monmouthshire County Council had held its meetings in the Shire Hall in Newport.[1] 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 Croesyceiliog.[2]
Construction of the new building started in 1969.[3][4] Following the implementation of the Local Government Act 1972, the new building was destined to become the home of Gwent County Council.[4] It was designed by Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall, built at a cost of £9 million[5] and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 19 April 1978.[6][7][8] 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.[9]
On 1 April 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Gwent was abolished and the building was acquired by the newly formed Monmouthshire County Council.[10] However, after the building was found to have concrete cancer, and the potential rectification work required was estimated at £30 million, the county council decided it had no further use for the building.[10]
After the county council had moved to smaller offices at Usk in May 2013,[a] County Hall in Cwmbran was demolished[13][14] and the cleared site was sold to Kier Group for a residential development involving 140 new houses.[15][16]
Notes
^The new offices at Rhadyr near Usk were built by Willmott Dixon at a cost of £8 million.[11][12]
