1.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Wye Valley
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The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic areas in southern Britain. The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom and it is also historically important as one of the birthplaces of the modern tourism industry. The area is rural, and many people make a living from tourism. Ross-on-Wye is the town within the AONB itself, but Hereford, Monmouth, Coleford. The varied landscapes of the Wye Valley can be explained by underlying rocks and structures, close to Hereford, the geology of the area around the village of Woolhope is largely made up of Silurian limestones, shales and sandstones. To the south of this, the Herefordshire lowlands are underlain by red mudstones and sandstones. These rocks are softer than the limestones elsewhere, so the river created more meanders, a floodplain. Around Symonds Yat, limestones and red sandstones meet and this leads to a landscape of hills and plains, as well as substantial meanders which have formed impressive river cliffs. The Lower Wye landscape was formed by the acting on a series of layers of rock that dip towards the Forest of Dean. Here the river has incised into the margins of the Old Red Sandstone plateau to form a gorge with substantial river cliffs, the steepest parts of the Wye gorge are cut through the Carboniferous Limestone. Here the combined action of the river, natural joints in the rocks and quarrying have exposed many vertical faces, geological interest extends underground, and there are many rock shelters and solution caves in the area. These include King Arthurs Cave and many others in the area of Symonds Yat, lancaut and Ban-y-Gor are Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature reserves. They both have SSSI status being part of the nationally important Lower Wye Gorge SSSI and within the Wye Valley AONB, the Wye Valley is important for its rich wildlife habitats. The area has three sites of importance, designated as Special Areas of Conservation under the European Unions Habitats Directive. These are the River Wye, the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean Bat Sites and it supports a population of lesser horseshoe bats, a growing population of peregrine falcons, goshawks, ravens, rare whitebeam, nightjar and lesser known fish like the shad and twaite. The main Welsh populations of the small but colourful moth Oecophora bractella are found here, in September 2006 it was reported that one colony of lesser horseshoe bats in the area had reached record numbers, with some 890 bats in a small stone barn. The valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, caves near Symonds Yat and Chepstow provide evidence of settlement dating from Palaeolithic times, and finds from later stone ages such as the Neolithic have also been found
4.
Chepstow
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Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, about 2 miles above its confluence with the River Severn and it is 16 miles east of Newport,18 miles north-west of Bristol and 110 miles west of London. Chepstow Castle, situated on a clifftop above the Wye and its bridge, is cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. The castle was established by William FitzOsbern immediately after the Norman conquest, a Benedictine priory was also established within the walled town, which was the centre of the Marcher lordship of Striguil. In the late eighteenth century the town was a focus of tourism as part of the Wye Tour. Chepstow is also known for its racecourse, which has hosted the Welsh National each year since 1949. The town had a population of 10,821 according to the 2001 census and it is served by the M48 motorway, and its accessibility to the cities of Bristol, Newport and Cardiff means it has a large number of commuters. It is administered as part of Monmouthshire County Council, and is within the Monmouth parliamentary constituency, Chepstow is on the western bank of the Wye, while adjoining villages on the eastern bank of the river, Tutshill and Sedbury, are located in England. The name Chepstow derives from the old English ceap / chepe stowe, the word stow usually denotes a place of special significance, and the root chep is the same as that in other placenames such as Chipping Sodbury and Cheapside. The name is first recorded in 1307, but may have used by the English in earlier centuries. However, the used by the Normans for the castle and lordship was Striguil, probably from a Welsh word ystraigyl. The Welsh name Cas-gwent refers to the castle of Gwent. There are also Iron Age fortified camps in the area, dating from the time of the Silures, at Bulwark,1 mile south of the town centre, and at Piercefield and Lancaut, some 1.5 miles to the north. During the Roman occupation, there was a bridge or causeway across the Wye, Chepstow is located at a crossing point directly between the Roman towns at Gloucester and Caerwent. Although historians think it likely that there was a small Roman fort in the area, after the Romans left, Chepstow was within the southern part of the Welsh kingdom of Gwent, known as Gwent Is-coed. To the north of the town centre, a small church was established dedicated to St. Cynfarch. This later became an Augustinian priory on what is now Kingsmark Lane, the town is close to the southern point of Offas Dyke, which begins on the east bank of the Wye at Sedbury and runs all the way to the Irish Sea in north Wales. It is possible, though not clearly substantiated, that Chepstow may have superseded Caerwent as a trading centre, after the Norman conquest of England, Chepstow was a key location
5.
Builth Wells
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It has a population of 2,568, or 2,994 including the neighbouring village of Llanelwedd in Radnorshire. Builth is an anglicization of the Welsh Buellt or Buallt and it derives from the Welsh words bu, meaning ox, and gellt, meaning pasture, rendering cow pasture. The town added Wells to the name in the 19th century when its springs were promoted as a visitor attraction, the Welsh name Llanfair-ym-Muallt means St Marys Church in Buallt. Builth first emerged in post-Roman times, probably on the side of the Irfon river from its present site at Dol Eglwys where a ruined early medieval church is thought to have stood. Early Post-Roman Builth was an independent kingdom, the most famous ruler was Elystan Glodrydd from whom many local gentry claimed descent. As an important component of Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, an entity referred to in the poems of Taliesin. Glodrydd probably lived at Llanafan Fawr rather than the site of Builth Wells. Until the foundation of the Norman town Llanfair ym Muallt the main settlement was Llanafan, stories about Philip de Braose centre on Llanafan not modern Builth. Ecclesiastically, the Deanery of Builth had always been part of St Davids and later Swansea and Brecon, the site of the town controls an important ford across the Wye and the crossing point of the main north-south route in Wales and an important south-west-east route. It was militarily and economically significant for centuries, the Welsh name for the town Llanfair ym Muallt refers to the foundation of a Norman church dedicated to St Mary. The churchyard is however, an oval which is strongly suggestive of an original Celtic foundation. The town was out as two streets connecting a castle and a church and was protected by a hedge rather than a wall. This type of town is called a Bastide, a kind of medieval market settlement. In exchange for rights to live and trade in the market of the new town skilled townspeople paid the lord various dues, in many parts of Wales the skilled workers were of Flemish or English origin. Despite repeated destructive fires, at one time involving a collection in London. It received major boosts from the development of roads, it was at the centre of early road networks. The railway allowed it to develop as a spa, and is known nationally as the location of the Royal Welsh Showground. The only remains of the castle are huge earthworks, Builth Castle was built under King Edward I, the construction taking nearly five years in the 1270s
6.
Hay-on-Wye
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Often described as the town of books, it is the National Book Town of Wales. The annual Hay Festival is a literary festival. The settlements name is first referred to between 1135 and 1147 as Haya, in 1299 the name of La Haye is used, by the 16th century it was simply called Hay, and the use of the river as a suffix is a later addition. In 1215, a Welsh name, Gelli was recorded, and Gelli gandrell in 1614, the two names may have been used concurrently in 1625. The English language name, Hay, is derived from Old English hæg, possibly meaning a fenced area, the Welsh word celli has a range of meanings including wooded areas of various extents. The town lies on the south-east bank of the River Wye and is within the north-easternmost tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the town is just on the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire, England, here defined by the Dulas Brook. Where the brook joins the River Wye just north of the town, the Wye was the boundary between the former counties and districts of Radnorshire and Brecknockshire. The adjacent village of Cusop lies on the English side of the Dulas Brook, the nearest city is Hereford, county town of Herefordshire, some 22 miles to the east. The Royal Mail depot in Hay is a sub-office of Hereford, Hay-on-Wye is a Welsh community with a Town Council. From this point, it follows the National Park boundary to the River Wye, the Town Council consists of a Mayor, Deputy Mayor and eight councillors. Hay also participates in the election of a councillor to Powys County Council as part of a county division. The B4350 runs through the town and the B4351 links it with the main A438 from Brecon to Hereford, the town was formerly served at Hay-on-Wye railway station by the train services known as the Canney Creeper, which closed in 1963 under the Beeching Axe. First held in 2010, HowTheLightGetsIn is a philosophy and music festival, billed as The Worlds Largest Philosophy and Music Festival, it attracts over 35,000 visitors to its programme of 450 events of music, comedy and philosophy. In 2015 the festival was held from the 21st to the 31st of May, acts included Mike Skinner, Simon Blackburn, Jamie Woon, Lawrence Krauss, Natalie Bennett and the IAI School, aimed at 16- to 18-year-olds, presented by New College of the Humanities. Hay Golf Club was founded in 1903, the club continued on its nine-hole course until the onset of WW2. The towns football club is called Hay St. Marys, Hay was named one of the best places to live in Wales in 2017. Hay-on-Wye, like Builth Wells, has two Norman castles within a distance of each other. It seems likely that Hay was first fortified by William Fitz Osbern during his penetration of south-east Wales in the summer of 1070, lying close to St Marys Church on the western edge of Hay-on-Wye is a small but well-preserved motte
7.
Hereford
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Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles east of the border with Wales,24 miles southwest of Worcester, with a population of 58,896, it is the largest settlement in the county. The name Hereford is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon here, an army or formation of soldiers, and the ford, if this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning old road, much of the county of Herefordshire was Welsh-speaking, as reflected in the Welsh names of many places in the county. An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as Hereford in Wales, Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000. It is now known chiefly as a centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include, cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals, hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh came to a head with the Battle of Hereford in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English. Hereford had the only mint west of the Severn in the reign of Athelstan, and it was to Hereford, then a border town, the present Hereford Cathedral dates from the early 12th century, as does the first bridge across the Wye. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton. The city gave its name to two suburbs of Paris, France, Maisons-Alfort and Alfortville, due to a manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, in the middle of the 13th century. Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a stronghold for English kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green, after the Battle of Mortimers Cross in 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution, Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owens son Jasper. During the civil war the city changed several times. On 30 September 1642 Parliamentarians led by Sir Robert Harley and Henry Grey, in December they withdrew to Gloucester because of the presence in the area of a Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller. On 31 July 1645 a Scottish army of 14,000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met resistance from its garrison
8.
Ross-on-Wye
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Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 9,574, in south eastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean. Ross-on-Wye was the birthplace of the British tourist industry, in 1745, the rector, Dr John Egerton, started taking friends on boat trips down the valley from his rectory at Ross. The Wye Valleys attraction was its river scenery, its precipitous landscapes, and its castles and abbeys, in 1782, William Gilpins book Observations on the River Wye was published, the first illustrated tour guide to be published in Britain. Once it was published, demand grew so much that by 1808 there were eight boats making regular excursions down the Wye, most of them hired from inns in Ross and Monmouth. By 1850 more than 20 visitors had published their own accounts of the Wye Tour, the 700-year-old parish church of St. Marys is the towns most prominent landmark and its tall pointed spire is visible when approaching the town from all directions. Rudhall was responsible for the repair of the almshouses, situated to the north west of the church, in 1575. The Plague Cross, also known as the Corpse Cross, was erected in the yard of St. Marys church in 1637 as a memorial to 315 people who died in the town of the plague in 1637. They were buried nearby in a pit, at night. By 1896, the cross had fallen into disrepair and the top of the cross was missing and it was later restored to its former state. The Prospect was created by John Kyrle and offers views over the Wye. The land was rented by John Kyrle from the Marquess of Bath in 1696 and turned into a garden, in 2008, following heavy rain, Roman remains were discovered and excavated under the site. It now contains trees, the V. E, day Beacon and the War Memorial. The town is known for its independent shops, picturesque streets, regular Thursday and Saturday markets are held at the red sandstone Market House building in the town centre, which was built between 1650 and 1654 replacing the older, probably wooden Booth Hall. The upper storey of the Market House now houses a Visitor Centre, the town has not had a cinema since The Roxy in Broad Street closed its doors in 1985. The cinema site was purchased by Gateway Supermarkets for development, opposite the church, The Prospect is a public garden offering a view of the famous horseshoe bend in the River Wye, as well as views as far as the Black Mountains. The ruins of Wilton Castle, which lie to the west of the town, have now been restored and are open to visitors, the town has a number of sculptures created by Walenty Pytel, the left bank of the River Wye shows two of these. Despite the commonly held belief that both depict swans, one in fact shows ducks, most local government functions are vested in Herefordshire Council, the unitary authority covering the county. Ross Town Council, which consists of 18 Councillors, has the statutory responsibilities of a parish council The Mayor is Councillor Colin Gray, the former Ross-on-Wye railway station was a junction railway station on the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway constructed to the north of the town
9.
Symonds Yat
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Symonds Yat is a village in the Wye Valley and a popular tourist destination, straddling the River Wye and on the borders of the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. It is within a few miles of Monmouthshire and the Welsh border, the name is said to come from Robert Symonds, a 17th-century sheriff of Herefordshire, and yat, an old word for a gate or pass. In the Iron Age the forts on the Great Doward and Yat Rock provided secure, during Roman times these forts became focal points in the region and the importance of the iron here and in the Forest of Dean made this a valuable prize for the conquerors. Offas Dyke was built in the 8th century directly above the Yat to separate England, the first recorded use of the word Yat in connection with the area was made in 1265. Yat is an old English word for gate or gorge and he was High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1685. The area is shown as Symons Yate on maps in 1665, Symons Yat in 1717. The Yat Gorge was mined for ore and remains of a smelting works are located down stream of the Symonds Yat Rapids. The ironworks at New Weir date from the 1590s and were operated by the White family until 1753, when George White leased the site to John Partridge, Partridge combined the ironworks at New Weir with his forge at Lydbrook which smelted pig iron from his furnace at Bishopswood. The works closed when the lease ran out in 1798 and the adjacent weir and lock buildings were demolished, the ferry at Symonds Yat has always played a huge part in the life here. In 1800 there were 25 hand ferries between Ross and Chepstow just like those outside Ye Old Ferrie Inn and the Saracens Head today. They were introduced in Roman times to link the forts of the Doward, Symonds Yat originally encompassed all the lands southerly of Huntsham curve on both sides of Symonds Yat Rock and would have included the area around Coldwell Rocks. It was found that the works included a mill, for making wire nails. Symonds Yat is on the side of the river, very close to the Gloucestershire border. It has three hotels, WyeDean Canoe and Activity Centre and the Saracens Head Inn, a steep footpath leads from the village up to Symonds Yat Rock. Another footpath and a cycleway, constructed on a railway line. Symonds Yat is on the side of the river. It has a caravan and camping site, and a small amusement park owned by Kimberly Danter. Symonds Yat amusement park used to have a small funfair which was removed in 2010 due to lack of service and it used to contain outdoor dodgems, twister, casino royale miami, flying jets, octopus, bouncy castles, ski jump, etc
10.
Monmouth
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Monmouth is a traditional county town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow meets the River Wye, the town is 30 miles northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the constituency of Monmouth. According to the 2001 census, its population was 8,877, the town was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium, and became established after the Normans built a castle here after 1067. Its mediaeval stone gated bridge is the one of its type remaining in Britain. The castle later came into the possession of the House of Lancaster, in 1536, it became the county town of Monmouthshire. Monmouth later became a tourist centre at the heart of the Wye Valley and it now acts as a shopping and service centre, and as a focus of educational and cultural activities for its surrounding rural area. The name Monmouth is an English contraction of Monnow-mouth, the Welsh name for the river, Mynwy, which may originally have meant fast-flowing, was anglicised as Monnow. The town was known in Welsh as Abermynwy, replaced by Trefynwy by the 1600s. Excavations undertaken by the Monmouth Archaeological Society on sites along Monnow Street have uncovered a wealth of information about the history of the town. Indeed, the Council for British Archaeology have designated Monmouth as one of the top ten towns in Britain for archaeology, the excavations later revealed the remains of a Neolithic crannog. The dwelling was constructed on stilts on an island away from the lake shore in water up to 10 feet deep. Timbers from the structure were dated to 4867 years before present. The first recorded settlement at Monmouth was the small Roman fort of Blestium and this was connected by road to the larger Roman towns at Glevum and Isca Augusta. Archaeologists have found Roman pottery and coins within the town centre. After the end of Roman rule in Britain, the area was at the edge of the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng. The only evidence of continuing settlement at Monmouth is a record of a 7th-century church, at a location within the town. Initially it would have been a motte and bailey castle, later rebuilt in stone, and refortified and developed over time
11.
Tintern
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Tintern is a village on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about 5 miles north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourists, who visit for the scenery, the village is designated as a Conservation Area. A ford across the navigable and tidal River Wye was in use in Roman times, the name Tintern may derive from the Welsh din + d/teyrn, meaning rocks of the king. Tintern Abbey was founded beside the river by Walter de Clare on 9 May 1131 and it was the second Cistercian foundation in Britain, and its monks came from a daughter house of Cîteaux in France. The present-day remains at Tintern are a mixture of building works covering several centuries, between 1270 and 1301 the abbey was rebuilt, and when it was completed around four hundred monks lived in the complex. The abbeys land was divided into units or granges, and local people provided farm labour and served the abbey. For 400 years, it dominated the economy of its surrounding area, during some of this period the area was contested between the Welsh and English, the closest battle being won in 1404 by Owain Glyndŵr, at Craig y Dorth near Monmouth. The area also had to contend with the Black Death, the abbey remained in operation until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Though it has suggested that the monks or lay brethren of Tintern Abbey exploited the woodlands and river power for operating iron forges. Industrial activity began in 1568 when the newly established Company of Mineral and it is possible that brass was made, but the works mainly made iron wire. This was used for a variety of industries with essential goods, cards for the woollen industry, nails, pins, knitting needles. The company began letting their works, farmers of the works in the 17th century included Sir Basil Brooke, Thomas Foley, the important ironmaster and his son Thomas Foley. A blast furnace and forges were built in the valley in the 17th century, for 300 years, the numerous works and forges along the Angidy Valley dominated the village and surrounding communities. A branch from the Wye Valley Railway to the Lower Wireworks by way of a bridge was completed in 1875, but too late to stop them going out of business. In 1878 a new company leased the site to manufacture tinplate although by 1895 it was reported as closed and only ruins, associated ponds. The bridge was used in the early 20th century as a horse-drawn tramway, by the late 18th century, tourism had started in the Wye Valley, with many visitors travelling on the river to see the abbey and other picturesque sites in the area. William Wordsworth stayed in the village in 1798 and wrote Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, the Royal George Hotel is one of several located beside the main road. Tintern is home to several different walking trails, in addition to areas of interest
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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wye". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
