The Newport Board of Guardians, the body appointed to oversee the running of the Newport Union, first met on 2nd August 1836. The Chairman of the Board Sir Charles Morgan donated land on Stow Hill for the construction of a new Workhouse which was completed in 1839 at a cost of £3668. The Workhouse was designed to accommodate 200 paupers and consisted of 4 day rooms, 2 lunatic bedrooms, day rooms for female and male lunatics, a lying-in ward, infirmary, kitchen and scullery. Overcrowding was a constant problem within the Workhouse and in 1904 the workhouse was expanded to accommodate up to 600 paupers. The programme of the official opening gives an excellent description of these buildings which we are still used as St Woolos Hospital.
