For much of the 20th century
Monmouthshire County Council had held its meetings in the
Shire Hall in
Newport. 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. Construction of the new building started in 1969. Following the implementation of the
Local Government Act 1972, the new building was destined to become the home of
Gwent County Council. and was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 19 April 1978. 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. 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. 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. and the cleared site was sold to
Kier Group for a residential development involving 140 new houses. ==Notes==