Woodcroft | |
---|---|
Location within Gloucestershire | |
Population | 284 |
OS grid reference | ST542959 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CHEPSTOW |
Postcode district | NP16 |
Dialling code | 01291 |
Police | Gloucestershire |
Fire | Gloucestershire |
Ambulance | South Western |
Woodcroft is a small village in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, opposite Piercefield House, two miles north of the Welsh town of Chepstow. The village is immediately north of Tutshill, within the parish of Tidenham. The population in 2011 was 284. [1]
Woodcroft was originally common land in "Bishton tithing" to the south of Tidenham Chase. Powder House Farm standing east of the road between Tutshill and Woodcroft was one of the farm-houses on the Tidenham manor estate in 1769 and was a stone house with a thatched roof in 1813. At least one cottage had been built on the common east of the road at Woodcroft by 1712, and by 1815 there was a small settlement of six or seven cottages. [2]
Woodcroft became a sizable hamlet by the end of the 19th century with cottages, somewhat scattered, covering much of the area of the former common, and some more widely spaced along the road to the north. In the mid-20th century numbers of detached houses were built along the road running northwards from Woodcroft and up onto the former chase, their owners attracted by the views over the River Severn to the east and the River Wye to the west. [2]
In the 1870s Sophia Morgan of Tidenham House was organizing evangelical services with coffee at a building in Woodcroft, partly in an attempt to combat drunkenness among the Irish labourers building the Wye Valley Railway. The Memorial Temperance Hall, a two-story stone building erected at Woodcroft by Christiana Morgan in 1887 in memory of her husband T. H. Morgan, was used for religious services, coffee rooms, and reading rooms, etc. [2]
One of the main attractions in the area is Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust's Lancaut Nature Reserve. Within the SSSI Nature Reserve is a cliff face called Wintour's Leap, enjoyed by walkers, naturalists and rock climbers. Access to cliffs is by permission of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust managed in conjunction with the British Mountaineering Council for rock climbing The reserve provides important nesting habitat for peregrine falcons that enjoy commanding views over the Wye Valley. The village straddles the boundary of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the Offa's Dyke Path passes through it.
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.
The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 46 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is managed by a Board of Trustees elected from its membership who provide overall direction for the development of the trust and there are advisory committees. The work of the trust is carried out through staff and volunteers.
Wintour's Leap is a noted rock climbing location and viewpoint. It is located near the village of Woodcroft in Gloucestershire, on the English side of the Wye Valley, north of Chepstow.
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.
Sedbury is a village in the Forest of Dean district of west Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, facing the town of Chepstow in Monmouthshire. The village is in the parish of Tidenham. It had a population of 3,535. Nearby are the villages of Tutshill, Woodcroft and Beachley.
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 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.
Woolaston is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire in South West England. It lies on the north side of the Severn Estuary approximately 5 miles from the Welsh border at Chepstow and is surrounded by woodland and agricultural land.
Boughspring is a hamlet in Gloucestershire, England.
Tutshill is a village within the parish of Tidenham in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Wye, which forms the boundary with Monmouthshire at this point and which separates the village from the town of Chepstow. The village of Woodcroft adjoins Tutshill to the north, and across the A48 road to the south is the village of Sedbury. A short walk over the river is Chepstow railway station on the Gloucester–Newport line.
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.
Lancaut is a deserted village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tidenham, in the Forest of Dean district, in Gloucestershire, England, located alongside the River Wye, around two miles north of Chepstow. It occupies a narrow-necked promontory formed by a curve of the river, which acts as the border between England and Wales. Little remains of the village today, except for the roofless church of St. James.
Lower Wye Gorge is a 65-hectare (160-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954 and renotified 1987. The site includes two Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves being Ban-y-gor Wood and Lancaut. The Natural England citation states a revision for Lancaut inclusion.
Poor's Allotment is a 28.57-hectare (70.6-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1954. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Shorn Cliff And Caswell Woods is a 69.2-hectare (171-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1986. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Lippets Grove is a 5-hectare (12-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire. The site was leased from the Forestry Commission in 1987 and is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
East Wood and is a 0.82-hectare (2.0-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire, England. The west site is 0.45-hectare (1.1-acre). The east site is 0.37-hectare (0.91-acre). It is part of a larger area of woodland called East Wood, which is adjacent to Oakhill Wood and Woolaston Wood (east). The site was leased from the Forestry Commission in 1986 and is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Ridley Bottom is a 1.1-hectare (2.7-acre) nature reserve in Gloucestershire. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).
Llangrove is a small village in the civil parish of Llangarron in southwest Herefordshire within seven miles of Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth.