History
The building was designed by architect Thomas Cecil Howitt, who was also the architect for Baskerville House in Birmingham and the Council House in his native Nottingham. The ceremonial first sod was cut on July 14, 1937 by King George VI, with the building finally open to the public in 1940. However, due to the war, work on the clock tower was suspended until 1963. On September 10 of that year the Corporation voted to complete the building of the clock tower at a cost of £126,900. This was despite a poll of 8,734 signatures in which the public voted 40-to-1 against. Conservative Alderman Dolman said that he could use the £126,900 cost to buy gold watches for everyone living within sight of the clock.
The base of the completed clock tower contains a collection of 12 murals by the German artist Hans Feibusch. The murals were commissioned in the 1960s and completed in 1964. They depict the history of the City from Celtic times to the building of the George Street Bridge over the River Usk. In recent years, conservation work has been necessary with specialist photographers recording the works prior to detailed restoration work being undertaken.
Read more about this topic: Newport Civic Centre
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“Tell me of the height of the mountains of the moon, or of the diameter of space, and I may believe you, but of the secret history of the Almighty, and I shall pronounce thee mad.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)