Llandogo | |
---|---|
Llandogo viewed from across the River Wye | |
Location within Monmouthshire | |
Population | 547 |
OS grid reference | SO525039 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Preserved county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MONMOUTH |
Postcode district | NP25 |
Dialling code | 01594 |
Police | Gwent |
Fire | South Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Llandogo is a small village in Monmouthshire, south Wales, between Monmouth and Chepstow in the lower reaches of the Wye Valley AONB, two miles north of Tintern. It is set on a steep hillside overlooking the River Wye and across into the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The 2011 census population was 547. [1]
The village derives its name from St Euddogwy (Oudoceus), the third Bishop of Llandaff, who is said to have lived in the area in the sixth or seventh century. [2] Llaneuddogwy, the historic form of the name, is still occasionally used, although Llandogo is the standard form in both Welsh and English. [3] The church was formerly also or alternatively dedicated to St Einion Frenin, who was credited with establishing St Cadfan's monastery on Bardsey Island off Llŷn. [4] The present church is on the site of a 7th or 8th-century foundation, but was wholly rebuilt in 1859–1861 by John Pollard Seddon. [5] [6] It has been described as one of Seddon's "most high-spirited small churches", with "polychromatic interplay inside and out" between mauve and ochre stone, and "an extraordinarily elaborate belfry". [7]
Llandogo was a port, renowned at one time for building of the trow, a flat-bottomed river boat that until the 19th century was used for trading up and down the River Wye, also on the River Severn shore and across the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel to Bristol. The boat gave its name to the historic Llandoger Trow pub close to the harbour in Bristol. The bell of The William and Sarah, one of the last Chepstow barges to trade on the river, can be found in the bell tower of the church at Llandogo.
The Priory is a villa built in 1838 for John Gough by the architects Wyatt & Brandon. [7] It is associated with Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, who spent several summers as a boy there. He recounts in the sixth yarn of Scouting For Boys an expedition by folding boat up the River Thames, down the River Avon and across the Severn Estuary, finishing in Llandogo. The house belonged to Count Henry Philip Ducarel de la Pasture, [8] whose wife and daughter were both well-known novelists, as Mrs Henry de la Pasture and E. M. Delafield respectively.
There are many local walks along the river bank and up through the village to Cleddon Shoots, a local Site of Special Scientific Interest and towards the village of Trellech. The Wye Valley Walk runs along the top of the village, and the Offa's Dyke walk is just across the river. The village is designated as a Conservation Area. [9]
The village hall, the Millennium Hall, was opened in 2003 by The Princess Royal. Events are organised by the local community.
Brown's Stores was the village's only general goods store since 1921 until it closed in 2021. The family itself have lived in the village for generations.
The Sloop Inn is the village's only public house and derives its name from the sloops that traded up and down the River Wye and across the Bristol Channel, being larger than the smaller, lighter flat bottomed trows.
Cleddon Shoots is an area of acidic woodland on the east facing slope of the valley above Llandogo. The main trees present are Sessile Oak, Beech, Ash and Alder.
Cleddon Falls ( SO520039 ) is a waterfall that rises above the southwest of the village and runs eastwards down into the Wye Valley.
St Briavels railway station was a station along the Wye Valley Railway. It was built in 1876 during the construction of the line on the Monmouthshire side of the River Wye at Bigsweir, and was intended to serve the nearby villages of St Briavels, across the river in the Forest of Dean, and Llandogo, which is further down the Wye Valley. It was closed on 5 January 1959 when the line was closed to passenger services. St Briavels station was renamed three time during its life: firstly Bigsweir Station, then St Briavels and Llandogo Station, and finally St Briavels Station. [10] Eventually a new halt was provided. Llandogo Halt railway station was a request stop on the former Wye Valley Railway. It was opened on 7 March 1927 to serve the village of Llandogo. It was closed in 1959 following the withdrawal of passenger services on the line. It was the smallest construction on the Wye Valley Railway. [10]
Llandogo was a main filming site for the 2019 TV series Sex Education . [11]
Powys is a county and preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham to the north; the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire to the east; Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Neath Port Talbot to the south; and Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion to the west. The largest settlement is Newtown, and the administrative centre is Llandrindod Wells.
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 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 is a county in the south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the south, and Torfaen, Newport and Blaenau Gwent to the west. The largest town is Abergavenny, and the administrative centre is Usk.
Tintern is a village in the community of Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about 5 miles (8 km) north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourists, in particular for the scenery and the ruined Tintern Abbey. Modern Tintern has been formed by the coalescence of two historic villages: Tintern Parva, forming the northern end of the village, and Chapel Hill, which forms the southern end. The village is designated as a Conservation Area.
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.
Beachley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, near the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the rivers Wye and Severn, where the Severn Bridge ends and the smaller secondary bridge over the River Wye begins, both bridges carrying the M48 motorway between England and Wales though the motorway is not directly accessible from the village. The tidal range on this stretch of water is the highest in the UK. Before the construction of the bridge it was a ferry port from where the Aust Ferry operated until 1966. The population in 2011 was 764.
Tidenham is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye to the west and the River Severn to the south. Offa's Dyke runs through the western part of the parish, terminating at Sedbury cliff above the River Severn.
St Briavels, is a medium-sized village and civil parish in the Royal Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England; close to the England-Wales border, and 5 miles (8 km) south of Coleford. It stands almost 800 feet (240 m) above sea level on the edge of a limestone plateau above the valley of the River Wye, above an ancient meander of the river. To the west, Cinder Hill drops off sharply into the valley. It is sheltered behind the crumbling walls of the 12th century St Briavels Castle.
The Wye Valley National Landscape is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales.
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.
Portskewett is a village and community (parish) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located four miles south west of Chepstow and one mile east of Caldicot, in an archaeologically sensitive part of the Caldicot Levels on the Welsh shore of the Severn Estuary. The Second Severn Crossing passes overhead carrying the M4 motorway. The community includes Sudbrook, Crick and Leechpool.
Whitebrook is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located four miles south east of Monmouth in the Wye Valley.
Brockweir is a village in Hewelsfield and Brockweir civil parish, in the Forest of Dean District of Gloucestershire, England. The civil parish also includes the separate village of Hewelsfield.
Redbrook is a village in Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on the River Wye and is within the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Bigsweir Bridge is an 1827 road bridge crossing the River Wye, straddling the boundary between the parish of St. Briavels, Gloucestershire, England, and Llandogo, Monmouthshire, 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.
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.
Hewelsfield is a village in Hewelsfield and Brockweir civil parish, in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England.
St Briavels Station was a station along the Wye Valley Railway. It was built in 1876 during the construction of the line on the Monmouthshire side of the River Wye at Bigsweir, and was intended to serve the nearby villages of St Briavels, across the river in the Forest of Dean, and Llandogo, which is further down the Wye Valley. It was closed on 5 January 1959 when the line was closed to passenger services.
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.