Beechwood House, Newport

Image: © Jaggery Taken: 7 Feb 2010

Located at the top (north) side of Beechwood Park. Beechwood House is a small mansion in simple Italianate Classical style, built of Bath stone ashlar and rendering at the rear. The front is two storey and symmetrical with a central porch of paired Corinthian columns, set between window bays. The house layout takes the traditional form of an impressive central hallway leading from the porticoed entrance, with a grand staircase at the rear and large reception rooms on either side. The past. Beechwood House, now a Grade II listed building, was built in 1877-78 as the private residence of George Fothergill, a tobacco manufacturer and former Mayor of Newport. It is located on a hillside with views across the city of Newport and the Bristol Channel. In 1900, Newport Borough Council bought Beechwood House and the private grounds, covering 30 acres. They were opened to the public as Beechwood Park. During the First World War, the house was used as a convalescent home. During the Second World War, the house was used by American Forces. After the war, the house had a number of uses including a tuberculosis hospital and a model railway club. The house has remained empty since 1987 and was severely damaged by fire in 1992. The future. Following a successful bid by Newport City Council for a total of £4.2 million of funding, including substantial contributions from the European Regional Development Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government’s Local Regeneration Fund, construction work started in October 2006 to redevelop Beechwood House as an Entrepreneurship Centre, with the aim of providing an environment to encourage new and growing businesses. The redevelopment will provide employment opportunities as well as converting a derelict building into a prestigious asset for the city.

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