The Fourteen Locks Canal Centre is situated at the top of the most unique flight of locks in the country which rises 165ft in ½ a mile. Work on the canal started in 1792 and work on these locks in 1796, by late 1798 the canal was complete. The opening of the canal brought prosperity to the valleys and especially to Newport , prior to the canal Newport was not much bigger than a large village with about 400 people living here. The canal trade helped increase the population of the area by thousands each year.