Usk is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks the ancient crossing point. It developed as a small market town, with some industry including the making of Japanware, and with a notable prison built in 1841–42. In recent years Usk has become known for its history of success in Britain in Bloom competitions, winning the "Wales in Bloom" competition for 35 times in a row between 1982 and 2016. The resident population of the town in 2011 was 2,834, decreasing to roughly 2,600 in 2021. 6.8% of the population are recorded as being able to speak Welsh.
Twyn Square and clock tower
Usk and river from Llanbadoc Rock; 1860
Front page of the earliest surviving copy of the newspaper The Illustrated Usk Observer, 7 July 1855
The Old Town Hall
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.
Image: Autumn view from the Kymin 2 geograph.org.uk 2171172
Image: Ragland
Image: Old Severn Bridge HDR
Hillfort on the summit of Skirrid Fawr