The Newport Pig

The Bronze Pig


AFTER disappearing from the market, this little piggy has cried home for the last time after being put back in place.

Newport residents had raised concerns of the whereabouts of the bronze pig monument which has stood at the back of Newport market for the last nine years.

Janet Martin, owner of Barnabas Arts House, in Newport, said at the time: “It needs to be put back. “These are things of real cultural significance to Newport and they seem to be disappearing.”

Then, Newport City Council promised that it would be back.


Now, the life-size bronze sculpture of a Gloucester Old Spot pig has returned to the market after being kept safe in storage during the completion of the new bus terminus.

Accompanied by baskets of fruit and vegetables, the monument usually stands outside the rear entrance of the Victorian indoor market.

It was erected to celebrate over 700 years of markets in Newport, a fact which is inscribed on the base of the sculpture.

Unveiled in 1994, by Cllr Ted Travers, who was then mayor of Newport, it was made by Sebastian Boyesen, Newport’s town sculptor at the time.