Pontypool Market

Pontypool Market is a large market hall built in the late 19th century, specifically 1893 and 1894. It is constructed of grey, narrow coursed rock-faced pennant limestone with some larger stones, dressed with yellow Ebbw Vale brick, and covered by a Welsh slate roof. The building has two full elevations and three secondary entrances from different street frontages, including the Jubilee Building, Crane Street, and Commercial Street.

The street elevations are single-storied with windows overlooking secondary aisles that surround the main, aisled hall. The Market Street elevation features a central doorway with a four-centred Tudor arch, having part-glazed wooden doors with pilasters rising to a corbel frieze and a date panel displaying "1893." A parapet with raised battlement-like features sits above the doorway. This is flanked on either side by four three-light windows with yellow brick frames and mullions, all aligned but with a stepped-down brick plinth along the street. Additional doorways flank these, with pilasters but no parapet, followed by a three-light window to the north and a single-light window to the south corner. The end elevation includes a single-light window, then a two-light window with a king mullion, followed by five three-light windows; the most northerly is topped with a roundel in a gable. The roofs behind these walls rise in three stages, reflecting the heights of the two aisles and the main nave. The nave roof has timber gable windows and glazing along both slopes.

The Crane Street entrance mirrors the Market Street doorway in style, bordered by one-over-one windows in plain heads. Above the entrance is a crow-stepped gable with a block at the apex and a three-light window with a stepped head. A date of 1894 and the inscription "PLB" (Pontypool Local Board) are incorporated into the gable.

The Commercial Street entrance is set into the ground floor of an early 19th-century terrace. Only the doorway and the dateplaque “1894” above it are from the late 19th century.

Inside, the market features a central nave supported by plain iron columns. Light curved iron members extend from the columns and support a roof structure of light iron with timber rafters and sarking. The nave roof has bands of glazing running the full length on either side of the ridge. Additional passageways provide access to the entrances on Crane Street and Commercial Street. The interior appears largely unaltered, although the stalls are mostly modern.