Whitebrook
| |
|---|---|
 Whitebrook valley and the River Wye | |
  Whitebrook Location within Monmouthshire | |
| OS grid reference | SO533065 |
| Principal area | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Historic county | |
| Post town | MONMOUTH |
| Postcode district | NP25 |
| Dialling code | 01600 |
| Police | Gwent |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
Whitebrook (Welsh : Gwenffrwd) is a small village in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located four miles south east of Monmouth in the Wye Valley.
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the Whitebrook valley - like the Angiddy valley at Tintern a few miles to the south - was a centre of intensive water-powered industry. A branch of Tintern wireworks was established here in about 1606, and wire working continued to be the main industry of the valley until about 1720. By about 1760, paper mills had taken over, and much of the housing in the valley was built for millworkers around that time. Some of the paper was made from imported esparto grass, brought in via the quay at nearby Llandogo. [1]
Although the industry had ceased by 1880, the valley retains the remains of several old mills, warehouses, dams and leats. These include the remains of a quay and warehouses beside the Wye; remains of a mill and dam belonging to the Glynn Paper Mill which operated between about 1800 and 1850; more extensive sandstone-built remains upstream of Bridget's Mills; the remains of two 17th century wireworks mills; the remains of the large Clearwater Paper Mills built about 1760, with its accompanying water systems; and several more mills. Fernside Mill, to the west, is the only mill in the valley to remain largely intact; it comprises a four-storey seven-bay stone-built paper mill building, together with a two-storey manager's house and a stable. [2] Many of the valley's mill buildings have now been transformed into desirable residential properties. The village is designated as a Conservation Area. [3]
The Holy Trinity Church was built as a result of public subscription in 1835, to cater for the industrial community. [4] It has an intricately carved screen, made by Rev. Joshua Stansfield in 1892. [2]
Whitebrook today is known for its fine dining restaurant, The Crown at Whitebrook, with owner and chef Chris Harrod. The River Wye AONB surrounds the village, with Lower Hael Wood to the north. Across the river are the hills of west Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean through which Offa's Dyke Path passes.
Novelist Julia Gregson lives in the village, which was also the home for some years of Gwydion Thomas, son of poet R. S. Thomas. The poet Paul Groves (born 1947) spent his childhood a mile to the south at The Narth.
The Wye Valley Railway went through the village between Monmouth Troy railway station and Chepstow railway station from 1876. Served by Whitebrook Halt railway station which was a request stop on the former Wye Valley Railway. It was built in 1927 to serve the village of Whitebrook and opened in February that year. It was closed in 1959 when passenger services were withdrawn from the Wye Valley Railway. The station came too late to make full use out of the village's industry. Whitebrook had once been home to three paper mills. However, paper making ceased in Whitebrook in the early 1880s, only four years after the line opened in 1876. The halt was not built until long after the closure of the paper mills. [5]
Monmouth is both the historic county town of Monmouthshire in Wales and a community. 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.
The Wye Valley Walk is a long distance footpath in Wales and England following the course of the River Wye.
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 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 is a principal area with the style of 'county' in South East Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire of which it covers the eastern 60%. The largest town is Abergavenny. Other towns and large villages are 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.
Tintern is a village and community on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourists, in particular for the scenery and the ruined Tintern Abbey.
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.
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.
Dingestow is a small village in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Monmouth and approximately the same distance north-east of Raglan in rural Monmouthshire. The River Trothy passes through the village.
Dixton is a small village located 1 mile (1.6 km) north east of Monmouth, on the banks of the River Wye, in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. The parish originally comprised the two manors of Dixton Newton and Dixton Hadnock, on either side of the river.
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. It carries the A466 road, and is located about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the village of Llandogo, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Whitebrook, and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the village of St Briavels. It is the Normal Tidal Limit of the River Wye, and navigation below this point falls under the jurisdiction of the Gloucester Harbour Trustees.
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.
Penterry is a small rural parish of 479 acres (1.94 km2) in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located between the villages of St. Arvans and Tintern, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Chepstow, within the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the border with England. It now contains an isolated parish church adjoining the site of a deserted village, and a few farms.
The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of 16 miles (26 km) which ran from Monmouth to Little Mill, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was intended to convey the mineral products of the Forest of Dean to the ironworks of South Wales, by connecting to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway at Little Mill Junction. The NAHR made the onward connection over its Taff Vale Extension line. The CMU&PR intended to acquire the Monmouth Railway, actually a horse-operated plateway, and convert it to locomotive operation.
Whitebrook Halt was a request stop on the former Wye Valley Railway. It was built in 1927 to serve the village of Whitebrook and opened in February that year. It was closed in 1959 when passenger services were withdrawn from the Wye Valley Railway. The station came too late to make full use out of the village's industry. Whitebrook had once been home to three paper mills. However, paper making ceased in Whitebrook in the early 1880s, only four years after the line opened in 1876. The halt was not built until long after the closure of the paper mills.
The Tintern Wireworks Branch was a short branch line on the Wye Valley Railway. It was completed in 1874 and opened on 1 November 1876; the reason for the delay was that the Wye Valley Railway which the branch line fed into, was not completed until the latter date. It closed in 1935 when the rails buckled in the heat of the summer.
Osbaston is a suburb of Monmouth, Wales, located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town centre. It was the site of one of the first public electricity generating stations in Britain, using water power from the River Monnow.
The Narth is a village in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Monmouth, and about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Trellech, on a spur of land overlooking the Whitebrook and Wye valleys. The population as of 2011 census was 369.
The Whitebrook, formerly known as The Crown at Whitebrook, is a restaurant with rooms in Whitebrook, 6 miles (9.7 km) south-south-east of Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales, near the River Wye and the border with England. The building is thought to date from the 17th century and by the 19th century it was used as a roadside inn. Its restaurant was run by Chef Patron James Sommerin until 2013; it gained a Michelin star in 2007. It contains eight double rooms and a 2-acre (0.81 ha) garden. On 7 March 2013, it closed because of financial difficulties; at the time it had the longest held Michelin star in Wales. Critics praised the food under Sommerin, but have criticised the difficulty in finding the restaurant. It re-opened in October 2013 under new chef and owner Chris Harrod, and regained the Michelin star in 2014. Harrod serves a menu using locally produced meat and vegetables along with foraged ingredients such as charlock, hedge bedstraw and pennywort.