The English Stones are a rocky outcrop in the Severn Estuary between Caldicot, Monmouthshire, and Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire. Because the area is exposed at low tide, and is a rare spot of solid land in the highly tidal estuary, it has long been considered a good location to build barrages, dams or bridges. In the 1990s the construction of the Second Severn Crossing made use of the English Stones as a foundation for significant sections of the bridge. [1]
The River Severn, at 220 miles (354 km) long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s) at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of 2,001 feet (610 m), on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Gloucester and the City of Worcester lie on its course.
Severn crossing is a term used to refer to the two motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales operated by England's National Highways. The two crossings are:
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.
The Second Severn Crossing, officially renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge since July 2018, is the M4 motorway bridge over the River Severn between England and Wales, inaugurated on 5 June 1996 by the Prince of Wales to supplement the traffic capacity of the Severn Bridge built in 1966. The bridge is operated by England's National Highways. It has a total length of 5,128 metres (16,824 ft).
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city of Bristol, and is over 30 miles (50 km) wide at its western limit.
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Bristol and about 28 miles (45 km) south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 motorway. The village has a chapel, a church and a public house. There is a large area of farmland on the river bank, which is sometimes flooded due to the high tidal range of the Severn. Aust Cliff, above the Severn, is located about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the village. The civil parish of Aust includes the villages of Elberton and Littleton-upon-Severn.
The A403 is a main road linking Bristol with the Severn Estuary. It runs from junction 1 of the M48 at Aust to the docks at Avonmouth. After the Severn Bridge was opened in 1966, the A403 was constructed in 1969 and 1970 to provide a direct route between the M4 motorway and Avonmouth. It is an important route for the local industries, allowing easy access between Wales and this part of England. It was financed by Gloucestershire County Council with a £387,000 grant from the Ministry of Transport and was initially known as the Avonmouth Aust Coast Road.
The Severn Railway Bridge was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway Company, primarily to carry coal from the Forest of Dean to the docks at Sharpness; it was the furthest-downstream bridge over the Severn until the opening of the Severn road bridge in 1966. When the company got into financial difficulties in 1893, it was taken over jointly by the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway companies. The bridge continued to be used for freight and passenger services until 1960, and saw temporary extra traffic on the occasions that the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering work.
Uskmouth is an area to the south of the city of Newport, South Wales.
The River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor, crosses north Devon and close to the sea at the town of Barnstaple, formerly a significant port, empties into Bideford Bay in the Bristol Channel having formed a large estuary of wide meanders which at its western extreme is joined by the estuary of the Torridge.
The English Bridge is a masonry arch viaduct, crossing the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The present bridge is a 1926 rebuilding and widening of John Gwynn's design, completed in 1774. A bridge is known to have stood at this spot since at least Norman times. Historically, it was known as the "Stone Bridge". It is a Grade II* listed building.
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn in the south-west of Great Britain, flowing into the Bristol Channel between England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately 50 feet (15 m), means that it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary have existed since the 19th century. The building of such a barrage would constitute an engineering project comparable with some of the world's biggest. The purposes of such a project have typically been one or several of: transport links, flood protection, harbour creation, or tidal power generation. In recent decades it is the latter that has grown to be the primary focus for barrage ideas, and the others are now seen as useful side-effects. Following the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study (2008–10), the British government concluded that there was no strategic case for building a barrage but to continue to investigate emerging technologies. In June 2013 the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its findings after an eight-month study of the arguments for and against the Barrage. MPs said the case for the barrage was unproven. They were not convinced the economic case was strong enough and said the developer, Hafren Power, had failed to answer serious environmental and economic concerns.
Cattybrook Brickpit is a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1989. It began as a clay pit and brickworks.
New Passage is a small hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England, on the banks of the Severn estuary near the village of Pilning. It takes its name from the ferry service which operated between there and South Wales until 1886.
Gray Hill is a hill immediately to the north of the village of Llanvair Discoed, Monmouthshire, South Wales, rising to 896 feet (273 m) above sea level.
Purton is a village on the east bank of the River Severn, 3 miles north of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Hinton. It lies opposite the hamlet of Purton on the west bank of the river.
Berkeley railway station served the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway (MR), which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness.
Sharpness railway station served the village of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England.
Portskewett Pier was a station on the Bristol & South Wales Union Railway. The pier at Black Rock, near Portskewett, was the Welsh side of the New Passage Ferry across the River Severn. The ferry linked rail services between Bristol and South Wales, avoiding the previous long detour through Gloucester. The ferry service lasted for nearly twenty five years, from 1863 to 1886, until the opening of the railway tunnel beneath the river.
Coordinates: 51°33′59″N2°41′12″W / 51.56636°N 2.68669°W
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