Their warehouses were used to store these imports or exports until they were ready to be moved on. This meant their warehouses were full and often extremely busy; these items were essential for everyday life to provide energy, food, clothes, etc to the people. This lead to a prosperous career of transporting and storing goods for inhabitants or visitors to the island.
Finally there was a rope store; this was used to store rope and other objects for boats. These were used to anchor in the boats and supply them with any other needed supplies. These items were needed in the 1900s because there were so many boats coming up and down the river; many were freight ships, some carrying people. These went up and down the Medina dropping their cargo off in Newport, so by having a chandler’s store there they could sell or give supplies to the boatmen when they docked.
Jack Sprake Centre: 59022 June 2009
Local Study Newport Quay
Why did Newport Quay decline in the 1900s?
The prosperity of these businesses didn’t last for long though, they soon shut and went through huge changes. Mew Langton’s brewery was taken over by Strong and Co. of Romsey in 1965; this was then taken over by Whitbread in 1968 before finally being closed and “mysteriously burnt” in 1979. The Shephard Brother’s warehouses had stopped being used before 1951 and the Rope store wasn’t being used by 1980. After these places were shut they got refurbished into new buildings, the Rope store was refurbished by the Quay Arts Centre in 1991 into a gallery, meeting room, dressing rooms, administrative offices and a rest room for the Quay theatre. Mew Langton’s got rebuilt and turned into the main Quay Arts building where the café is and art is displayed for sale; finally the Shephard Brother's warehouses were converted into flats.
Lorries were brought in from the mainland in 1955, this made the demand for trains and barges fall greatly. Lorries could deliver goods straight to the exact location so these were favoured over the less original transport methods. However these wouldn’t have been nearly as effective without the introduction of “roll-on roll-off ferry,” these could carry cars and lorries across water, this was essential for the fall of barges; because without them being able to carry lorries freight ships would have still been better for transporting goods. RO-RO ferries had been around since 1940 (the army used them in WW2), however they weren’t being widely for public use until 1953 and weren’t on the island until 1961. These ferries meant that barges were now practically useless, so were no longer used to carry goods down to Newport Quay. These new ferries were too big to go down to the Quay so it stopped at different coastal locations on the island, so now not many important boats were going down the river; this would deeply effect the Quay as a whole but mainly the Rope Store and Shephard Brothers warehouses would feel the impact of this loss as these depended on boats for their businesses. The Rope Store served the boats and Shephard Brothers stored goods from the boats, without them they would have no where near as many customers so get a huge decline to their income.
Cars were starting to become cheaper right back in the 1930s, living standards had started to rise and people wanted cars. Cars like the Morris Minor and the Model Y were £100 cars, these were developed for the middle class customers; both were on sale by 1935. This meant that 2 million cars were owned by 1939, but the Second World War meant petrol was rationed so not many were bought till the end. 4 million cars were on the road by the 50s, this increased to 8 million by the mid 60s. So cars had become affordable at about the same time these places started being shut down, people could drive round now they didn’t need carriers to carry their goods around for them, so affordable cars are one of the reasons Shephard Brother’s begun on the route to closure, all they had left was furniture moving.
The island bus service also got a lot better in the 50s; this meant people no longer needed trains to move about as bus stops were much more often than train stations. By 1970 all train links on the island had been shut down. Because of this new bus service, shops, pubs and businesses saw there opportunity for great business, packed up and moved nearer to the main station, this was where the town centre is today. This would have made the quay even more abandoned. However a new area thrived; the bus station and the surrounding area, this is on South Street.
Lorries meant faster transport, which in turn meant goods could be transported much faster. This meant beer could be brought from all over in large quantities and delivered straight to an exact location, so local brewers weren’t needed as much because beer could be brought from further away places easily. It no longer needed to be brewed locally. So Mew Langton’s was also impacted by this change in transport. Lorries were too wide for the narrow roads at the Quay so the warehouses there were rendered useless. Lorries meant there was no need for barges to go up the river so the Rope Store was no longer needed. Finally the clean air act of 1956 meant that coal couldn’t be used to fuel as much so freight yards and ships had lost out and now had no real use. Lorries could also carry furniture this meant that Shephard Brothers also felt the impact of lorries coming in.
North Sea Gas also put an end to coal, which used to be bought in on barges, this was no longer needed as gas is much more practical and cheaper, it could easily be sent to homes via pipes and used for many different purposes, which coal was previously used for. So now the main commodity which the barges carried around had a minimal demand level so the barges were greatly depreciated, before being completely run out of business by lorries. The National Grid was also set up, this monitored electricity supply in all areas, and restored it when it went down, Meaning emergency supplies weren’t needed as much; and therefore meant these transport methods had even less need to carry fuel around.
Televisions had been available from the 1930s but it was only about a decade and a half later that average people could afford them. At this time (late 1940s after WW2) people were enslaved by the flashing machines; companies saw this and began paying the television studios to advertise on their station. This was ridiculously expensive so only really big successful companies could do it. So these advertised on television and became even bigger and more powerful, slowly draining local companies of business. Mew Langton’s was one of these local companies, they couldn’t advertise, whereas bigger companies could- so they slowly ran out of business.
Also there was a change in drinking habits by the mid 60s, growing affluence was mentioned earlier and it kept growing. People could now afford spirits and wines rather than cheap beer; the government could now afford a decent filtration and purifier system for the water, so it was now safer to drink. People now drank different things other than the original beer brewed at Mew Langton’s so business wasn’t as good and profit wasn’t as high. They used to be exceedingly prosperous because they were far ahead with technology; however by the 60s others would have easily caught up with their technology, so they weren’t as well known anymore.
With their business collapsing around them Mew Langton’s were probably overjoyed when Strongs & Co. of Romsey gave them an offer, they said they would keep all the same workers and whatever, just rename the company, the rapidly declining property was now taken of their hands. Strongs probably wasn’t even interested in the brewery, chances are they were more interested in the 200 pubs all over the island that Mew Langton’s sold with it. If it owned the monopoly of pubs on the island then it could price hike and make huge profits.
Just about 3 years later Strongs was bought out by Whitbread, which again gave them control of the 200 pubs. The brewery was not an important asset to Whitbread so they asset stripped it, this was because of transport being so much more cheaper, alcoholic beverages were shipped to the island as it was cheaper than brewing it locally; because of lorries etc. The Mew Langton’s building was insured, after it had been closed down decommissioned and turned to a depot it mysteriously burnt down. Whitbread gained the insurance money and sold the land.
Warehouses were hardly needed anymore; goods could be carried to the exact location by lorry, so Shephard Brothers Warehouses and all the other warehouses had nothing to store in them so all ran out of business. This can be related to Mew Langton’s burning, Whitbread made it a warehouse as it was to expensive to keep brewing there (it was much cheaper to import it with the cheaper transport), they then had no use for it as a warehouse but could not destroy it as it was a protected building; they had to pay to keep it in good repair, so it was easiest to let it ‘mysteriously’ burn down.
Transport was the main reason the Quay fell into a sharp decline, lorries in particular, because without the huge change in transport warehouses would’ve still had a use and Quay would still be accessible by the common means of transport. But all of the above played key parts in the Quay’s use declining; everything there was outdated so not needed. People could travel around easier and could just turn gas on; the Quay was just part of the past. Carriers were replaced with lorries, breweries were run out of business by bigger breweries like Whitbread who sent their own brew over by boat, and the Rope Store was taken out by the extreme size change in these boats. All these places could’ve changed to suit this change if it wasn’t for their location; they were surrounded by narrow streets so were completely inaccessible. But Newport still wasn’t quite what it is today…
Jack Sprake Centre: 59022 June 2009
Local Study Newport Quay
How and why has the Quay been regenerated?
Mew Langton’s brewery warehouse is the Quay Arts Centre, the Rope Store is also part of the Quay Arts Centre and the Shephard Brothers warehouses are now a block of flats.
These changes were brought on by many different factors; one of the main ones of these is money. This was of course necessary to repair the buildings and then set up and maintain the business. The Quay project was donated money from many sources: the lottery gave £600,000; the Arts Council (£50,000) and Southern Arts (£10,000); and the Isle of Wight Council £40,000) helped with the costs. Also the local authority gave an annual grant of £35,000 which was later put up to £55,000. Money also came from the people that bought the flats (Shephard Brother’s Warehouses).
There was generally more wealth at this time, there were more jobs due to privatization and the rapid change in transport, and this meant more work so more people earned a decent living. When the public have more money they feed it back into the system by shopping, this makes shops thrive and give the people working there more money, other businesses then see how well these companies are doing so move in; this provides more jobs so more money. The people working at these shops also give more money into other shops so also help this loop. As these shops thrive they can advertise and expand their business into other areas. This gives TV companies more money, and the people that work there, and as more shops are built even more jobs are created so even more money is made. All this is then paid back to the government in taxes which is then spent improving the quality of life for everyone. This can be shown like this:
So there were now huge amounts of trading across the globe, and everyone wanted profit; so now all the unprofitable businesses in the UK shut down, for instance coal mines were shut as it was more profitable to import it from abroad as the transport was now a lot better.
Better transport also meant that it was cheaper to build in other countries, where there is cheaper land and cheaper workers; so huge profits were made by building elsewhere.
As well as the government finding it cheaper to work in other countries they also found more ways to make money. Privatization happened; Margaret Thatcher sold all electricity and gas companies to private parties; this again created more jobs so more income and more tax. The government had previously lost the majority of the islands votes so wanted to “buy” them back- they now had the money to do this.
Oil was found in the North Sea in the early 1960s with a first well coming online in 1971, this wasn’t intensively exploited until the oil price rise in the 80s. This was good for the government, they were friendly with countries in the middle-east; this meant they could import cheap oil from there. Other countries however weren’t as friendly so couldn’t get it from there, they needed another source. This oil in the North Sea could be cheaply exported out to these countries and sold at a higher price, whilst we got ours at approximately £40 a barrel, so the government could happily get the votes of the IOW by donating a small amount for a good cause.
The IOW council also backed up the regeneration as they are situated near the Quay which is in a sad state of disrepair, this would make them look bad. They would willingly pay cash to help get this area looking nice as it would reflect on them.
The Quay Arts Centre offers: a chance to view art, a theatre, music, workshops, a café, bar, shopping and boating. The flats are near the town centre and the beautiful river view. These both would seem very attractive to the general public; the flats would be a lovely place to live and the Quay Arts proposal would give lots of people much enjoyment.
As just said people had more money, this meant people could use it on leisurely activities; the Quay Arts appealed too many as a good place to spend their money. It offered courses such as a 2 day, 6 hour each course in botanical drawing for £60 and a “kids’ art” for £6. It also had a theatre which costs about £10 and storytelling for £2. So there were many thrills to be had.
People worked for less time, less hours a day and had an earlier retirement. This meant more leisure time; people could go out for a couple of hours just about any day in the week. Earlier retirement meant much more leisure time as there was no job to go to.
Education had also increased, it became much more important, this meant that a younger audience enjoyed these types of activity more than they used to, so supported the idea. Once it was built the school children did work to be exhibited there, their parents then want to see their child’s work on exhibition so pay to go and see it. This helps to sustain the Quay Arts.
Finally as technology improved much less time was needed to do tasks; computers helped at work (it was easier to organize and sort out files, etc.) and around homes and ovens sped cooking up a lot. Less time was needed doing these tasks so people could not only have more time to themselves but get more done whilst they’re at work thus earn more.
Jack Sprake Centre: 59022 June 2009
Local Study Newport Quay
How and why has the Quay been regenerated?
Money and leisure aren’t the only reasons behind Newport Quay getting regenerated into what it is today.
English Heritage looks after buildings of historical importance, a building is listed if it is: historical, unique or part of the “character of the area.” If a building gets listed then it can’t be knocked down, have the structure dramatically changed and it can’t be allowed to fall into disrepair.
English Heritage listed the Quay buildings in 1953 then more in 1972, this meant the buildings couldn't be knocked down or allowed to fall into a sad state of disrepair. By this time they were the last Victorian warehouses on the island so needed to be protected, it was a unique building for the island; hence it got listed. This meant that it had to be regenerated as it couldn’t be knocked down or left to fall down, and it was in severe disrepair so it needed a use. All the buildings in the area near there is listed, there are 18 listed buildings on South Street.
Shephard Brothers is listed as the following: “GV 2. Warehouse of 3 storeys in red brick, with central and ground floor hatches and 2 windows with cast iron traceried bars. A small round window in the gable end, which is treated as a pediment with moulded brick capping. Purple brick arches to the hatches and windows. The Sea Street front and eastern side are now cement rendered, but the brick work remains intact on the river front. Also mid C18. Slate roof. Numbers l5 & 19 with the 2 blocks the other side of the river and adjacent to the viaduct form a group”
The Rope Store and Mew Langton’s are listed as “GV 2. Mid C18 warehouses. 3 storeys red brick with painted bands. Gable end slate roofs. Round headed windows with ornamental cast iron grilles. Nos 15 & 19 with the 2 blocks the other side of the river and adjacent to the viaduct form a group”
Because it couldn’t be dramatically changed there are still lots of evidence of its previous use down there today, for instance the windows have been kept; there are bars over them supposedly for security.
Around this time it was becoming fashionable to live in old houses, or old buildings converted to houses (warehouses, barns and churches were favoured), these were considered as having character so were very popular. They weren’t just popular because of the character they had though, the vast amounts of space also likened many, more space meant they could have a new living style. These buildings were converted into open plan houses, where there was no walls separating the rooms (except the bathroom), people liked this new idea so would pay more for converted buildings.
The owners of Shephard Brothers warehouses had to regenerate the building and saw this as their chance to make money from the (at the time) useless building, hence it is now an apartment block.
I think the single most important reason for the regeneration of the Quay is English Heritage listing it, this meant it couldn’t be left to fall down and couldn’t be knocked down so it had to be regenerated. Without the buildings being listed they probably would’ve either been knocked down or left to fall down, however they couldn’t because they were listed; so this is the most important reason.
I reckon the most important reasons for the Rope Store and Mew Langton’s becoming Quay Arts is the Conservatives losing the island’s votes and wishing to get these back, and the huge public demand for more leisure activities. The Tories wanted to get back the votes they had lost so needed to show the island that they helped and cared for the local community. However no single reason can be pulled out as the most important, if the government didn’t have enough money they wouldn’t have bothered as much, so this is also important. But there were many reasons for the government having more money, so these are also important; all contribute to the main factor. However the government would have chose to spend the money on something else if they hadn’t lost the majority of votes on the island. So losing the islands votes was a key turning point and if there wasn’t such a big demand for more leisure then the money would have been spent on something else. Finally the main reason the Shephard Brothers warehouses were changed into apartments is that it was fashionable to live in converted warehouses so money could be made from it.
Jack Sprake Centre: 59022 June 2009
Local Study Newport Quay
Fieldwork
The buildings at the Quay have changed loads since they have been regenerated; however there is a still lot of proof of the old uses of these historical buildings. The old image of the area has remained, it still looks relatively old- the context of the area has stayed intact. They are still made of the same materials- brick and stone, with slate roofs (some of the slate roofs have been renewed, but not all). Some of the old brickwork has been gone over with cement.
As you can see above the main Quay Arts buildings look the newest, but even that still has some of the old features still evident. There are still traceries over the windows of the Quay Arts centre, which would have been used as security when it was a Brewery warehouse, these have been kept as it makes the building look less altered. Also there is older brickwork at the bottom however the bricks at the top must have been too damaged from the fire to keep as the higher bricks look newer. There is a lot of evidence that this place has changed from the old brewery, the “Quay Arts” sign on the front of the building is the most obvious along with the “Q” flags in the top windows. A wooden fence has been built around the outdoor café (this would have been the docking bit where goods were taken from the barges). There is also a “fire exit” sign and newer brickwork. The main roof bits seem to be the same though. However the roof is rather unusual, it seems that bits have been added between the main points, as these have newer tiles, this could be for support. It’s also pushed back off the river; the other 2 buildings there aren’t, so this is also unusual.
The Rope Store also has traceried windows, but there is a row down the middle of windows which are much bigger and have shutters over them instead; these would be from when the barges stopped to dock and drop off their goods or re- supply, the barred windows would again be for security, these would have been kept to show the historical significance of the building. There are metal loops (1 is visible in the bottom left corner in the above picture) along the bottom, these would have been used to tie the boats onto. Finally there is a door that opens out onto the river; this would have been used for the people to climb off of the barges if needed. The most obvious sign of change is the advertising banner down the right hand side of the building; this blatantly would have been added. The other really noticeable change is the roof has been retiled; this stands out a lot from the rest of the building, it would have been changed because the other slate was falling apart. The not so obvious change is that the big windows with shutters over used to be doors, and have been converted to windows. The roof again on this building is quite unusual, it is shaped quite like a ships hull, this is abnormal. The 3 big windows with shutters over them are also unusual; these would be like this because goods would have been winched in through these.
Finally the Shephard Brothers Warehouses, there are barred windows on these and shutters over the windows. There are metal and wooden lumps at the top of these buildings; these would have been used to lift heavy merchandise in through the large windows. A really good piece of evidence that these buildings used to be warehouses is the ladder leading into one of the larger windows, this shows that people would have had to climb up and through here. All this has been kept and is all on the front (river) side. This is to keep the set value up. One change visible in the picture is the curtains in the windows, these definitely wouldn’t have been there when it was a warehouse; balconies have also been added to the sides of some of buildings. Round the left hand corner from the photo many windows have been added to the wall, and a couple on the roof (one can be seen). These would be there to make the flats more desirable living places. Some of the walls have been gone over in cement (all but the one nearest the river), to help support the building. This is because the building is valued as a set, and the river side is the front, so couldn’t be gone over. The ladder is the oddest feature but it is left there to show that this is a unique building and contributes its part to the local area. The other unusual feature is the chunks of metal or wood that would have hoisted goods up, these again are kept for the “character of the area.”
These old parts would be left on to keep the buildings looking as original as possible; all the new parts would only be added if absolutely necessary. By keeping all these unique buildings intact there is a character left in the area, which is what English Heritage wanted to keep. The character shows what the Quay used to be and how the Quay has been adapted to fit modern day life, whilst keeping the feeling of the 1900s there.
Jack Sprake Centre: 59022 June 2009
Local Study Newport Quay
Are the changes at the Quay normal?
“The warehouses, all built between 1826 and 1873 were primarily used for grain storage. They are all characterised by red-brick walls, slate roofs, timber floors and cast iron supporting columns. Externally they are almost all set back from the quayside allowing general access to the quays. They display small window openings (usually with stone lintels and cills) and have loading doors to each floor. The warehouses were, however, all built at different dates exhibiting subtle variations in dimensions and internal layouts.” A 116m long row of 3-storey warehouses built during 1829-30 along the west quay were demolished in 1966. In 1972 the British Waterways Board tried to demolish Llanthony Warehouse and in 1980 applied for Listed Building consent to demolish the North Warehouse. In both cases the idea was to replace the warehouses with modern industry, but permission was refused.
The history of Gloucester Quay is very familiar; in C19 warehouses were occupying the quays narrow streets. Then at about the early 1950s everything slowly started shutting down. The buildings were listed in late in late 1960s. Now they have all been regenerated into museums, restaurants, shops and a leisure + arts centre. All the dates even roughly match Newport Quay, so the same reasons for these things happening is highly likely. Lorries and boats couldn’t get to them, the warehouses were rendered useless; and the small businesses were rendered inadequate by bigger companies. So nationally Newport Quay is very typical.
Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver is much bigger yet still roughly the same thing happened there. Warehouses were built there, there was a wide variety of sizes and were mainly used for storing timber. These buildings were slowly run out of business in the 60s; this is when some were listed. This place is so large that they are still regenerating the area today.
Now there is over 90 shops and other services, including cafés, restaurants, hotels, entertainment for kids, markets, and art is sold there. So on an international level the Newport Quay is still typical, it shuts down, probably due to the same reasons. Then got regenerated over a much larger period of time, but still into roughly the same things, however it’s still not all regenerated.
The Quay is the way it is today because of the huge public demand for leisure at the time and the government wishing to spend money on the Island to get lost votes back. The government had access to money; this money enabled the scheme to be a success. English Heritage listing the buildings is why the scheme is located at the Quay; it is typical for this type of regeneration to happen at a Quay. The main reason the Quay fell into decline is the narrow roads, these stopped lorries getting to the Quay, so as technology moved on the Quay fell into disrepair as it was run out of business.