Chepstow Museum

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Chepstow Museum
Amgueddfa Cas-gwent
Chepstow Museum (4230).jpg
Monmouthshire UK location map.svg
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Location within Monmouthshire
LocationBridge Street, Chepstow, Wales
Coordinates 51°38′41″N2°40′21″W / 51.644832°N 2.672415°W / 51.644832; -2.672415
Owner Monmouthshire Museums Service
Website Chepstow Museum

Chepstow Museum is a museum in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is operated by Monmouthshire Museums Service.

Contents

Location

Chepstow Museum is located close to the town centre, opposite Chepstow Castle in Bridge Street, near the River Wye. It occupies Gwy House, a fine townhouse built in 1796 originally for Warren Jane, a wealthy apothecary and merchant. [1] The building became a girls' high school in 1907, and was then used as a Red Cross hospital in World War I. In 1921 it became the Chepstow District Hospital, before being converted into the town museum in 1982. [2] [3] It retains many of its original internal features.

Displays

The museum collection and displays reflect the growth and history of Chepstow as a trading port from medieval times and Marches town and its location within the Wye Valley, attracting many poets and painters.

In 2010 the museum held an exhibition, 'The Wye Tour and its Artists', of period art from the Wye Tour. A catalogue and detailed guide was published. [4]

Related Research Articles

Monmouth Town in Monmouthshire, Wales

Monmouth is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles (182 km) west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the parliamentary constituency of Monmouth. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001. Monmouth is the historic county town of Monmouthshire although Abergavenny is now the county town.

Tintern Abbey Abbey in Tintern, Monmouthshire

Tintern Abbey was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales, and only the second in Britain.

Chepstow Human settlement in Wales

Chepstow is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about 2 miles (3.2 km) above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the Severn Bridge. It is the easternmost settlement in Wales, situated 16 miles (26 km) east of Newport, 28 miles (45 km) east-northeast of Cardiff, 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Bristol and 110 miles (180 km) west of London.

Monmouthshire County in Wales

Monmouthshire is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with other towns and large villages being: Caldicot, Chepstow, Monmouth, Magor and Usk. It borders Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north.

Monmouthshire (historic) Historic county in Wales

Monmouthshire, also known as the County of Monmouth, is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county. It corresponds approximately to the present principal areas of Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Torfaen, and those parts of Caerphilly and Cardiff east of the Rhymney River.

Chepstow Castle

Chepstow Castle at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. Located above cliffs on the River Wye, construction began in 1067 under the instruction of the Norman Lord William FitzOsbern. Originally known as Striguil, it was the southernmost of a chain of castles built in the Welsh Marches, and with its attached lordship took the name of the adjoining market town in about the 14th century.

Monnow Bridge Grade I listed building and bridge in Monmouth, south-east Wales

Monnow Bridge, in Monmouth, Wales, is the only remaining fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower standing on the bridge. Such bridge towers were common across Europe from medieval times, but many were destroyed due to urban expansion, diminishing defensive requirements and the increasing demands of traffic and trade. The historical and architectural importance of the bridge and its rarity are reflected in its status as a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building. The bridge crosses the River Monnow 500 metres (1,600 ft) above its confluence with the River Wye.

Piercefield House Neo-classical country house

Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of, Sir John Soane. It is flanked by two pavilions, of slightly later date, by Joseph Bonomi the Elder. The house sits within Piercefield Park, a Grade I listed historic landscape, that was created in the 18th century as a notable Picturesque estate.

Chepstow railway station Grade II listed railway station in Monmouthshire, Wales

Chepstow railway station is a part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail and is operated by Transport for Wales. Chepstow station is on the Gloucester to Newport Line. It is 330 yards (300 m) from the town centre, at Station Road. Chepstow is a historic walled border town and ancient port, situated at the southern end of the Wye Valley, two hours from London.

Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales

The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales.

A466 road

The A466, also known as the Wye Valley Road, is a road from Hereford, England to Chepstow, Wales via Monmouth, Tintern and the Wye Valley.

Monmouth Castle

Monmouth Castle is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south east Wales.

Priory Church of St Mary, Chepstow Church in Wales

The Parish and Priory Church of St. Mary is located in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Parts of the building, including its ornate west doorway, date from the late 11th century and are contemporary with the nearby Norman castle. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Wye Valley Railway Disused railway in England and Wales

The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly 15 miles (24 km) along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and worked by, the Great Western Railway (GWR), before being fully absorbed by the GWR in 1905.

England–Wales border National boundary between England and Wales

The England–Wales border, sometimes referred to as the Wales–England border or the Anglo–Welsh border, runs for 160 miles (260 km) from the Dee estuary, in the north, to the Severn estuary in the south, separating England and Wales.

Chepstow Town Gate

The Town Gate at Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, known locally as the Town Arch, was historically the only landward entrance to the town through the Port Wall, and a point where tolls for those resorting to the town and its market were collected. It was originally built, with the wall, in the late thirteenth century. The current archway mainly dates from the sixteenth century, but has been restored and partly rebuilt on several occasions. It is located at the western end of the town's High Street, and is a Grade I listed building.

Old Wye Bridge, Chepstow Bridge in Tutshill, Gloucestershire

The Old Wye Bridge or Town Bridge at Chepstow, also known historically as Chepstow Bridge, crosses the River Wye between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England, close to Chepstow Castle. Although there had been earlier wooden bridges on the site since Norman times, the current road bridge was constructed of cast iron in 1816 during the Regency period, by John Rastrick of Bridgnorth, who greatly modified earlier plans by John Rennie.

George Hotel, Chepstow Building in Monmouthshire, Wales

The George Hotel, formerly The George Inn, is a public house and hotel in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located next to the Chepstow Town Gate at the foot of Moor Street, and was once an important coaching inn. Although there has been an inn on the site since 1620, the current building dates from 1899.

Grade I listed buildings in Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county and principal area of Wales. It borders Torfaen and Newport to the west; Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the east; and Powys to the north. The largest town is Abergavenny, with other large settlements being Chepstow, Monmouth, and Usk. The present county was formed under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, and comprises some sixty percent of the historic county. Between 1974 and 1996, the county was known by the ancient title of Gwent, recalling the medieval Welsh kingdom. The county is 850 km2 in extent, with a population of 95,200 as of 2020.

Wyndcliff

The Wyndcliff or Wynd Cliff is a steep limestone cliff rising above the western bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, some 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of the village of St Arvans, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Tintern, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of the town of Chepstow, within the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The cliff rises to 771 feet (235 m) at its summit, the highest point on the Monmouthshire bank of the Wye. The area is traversed by the Wye Valley Walk, and is also a popular venue for rock climbing. Access is provided by the A466 road which passes along the valley immediately below the cliff face.

References

  1. John Newman, The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire, 2000, ISBN   0-14-071053-1
  2. Anne Rainsbury (ed.). Chepstow and the River Wye In Old Photographs, 1989, ISBN   0-86299-406-3
  3. Ivor Waters, The Town of Chepstow, 1972
  4. Mitchell, Julian (2010). The Wye Tour and its Artists. Logaston Press. ISBN   978-1-906663-32-2.