Fire Damage to the Boys' School Hall, Newport High School 1944.

Photo reference number: 1869

The origin of the fire, which started in the early hours of December 8th, 1944, is not known. The hall and the whole of the first floor south of the main stairs were completely gutted. The memorial to pupils who had died in the First World War was among the items destroyed by the intensity of the heat.
Work began almost immediately to restore the rooms off the hall, access was enabled via a corridor by building a wall along two sides of the hall. The now isolated hall was left open to the sky for several years.
Fortunately nearly all of the school's official documents were rescued before the flames reached them.
Photo from 'The First Sixty Years, 1896 - 1956, The Newport High School For Boys'.

The 1914-18 memorial lost in the fire

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