Tel: 0118 971 4700
Chepstow (Cas-gwent) lies just inside the border between England and Wales. The town sits near Offa’s Dyke, built over 1200 years ago as a formal boundary between the two countries. Formerly a major port and market town - the name comes from the old English for ‘market place’ - Chepstow’s origins began with the castle which today remains at the centre of the town. The first stone castle built in Britain, the castle’s foundations are of Norman origins. Its construction was commissioned in 1067, the year after the Norman conquest of Britain by William the Conqueror. Its prime defensive location was chosen largely to prevent the Welsh invading the nearby county of Gloucestershire.
Chepstow town grew around the castle, and by the middle ages was the largest river port in Wales, trading in timber and oak, and importing wine. Chepstow port was also the point from which the three organisers of the Chartist uprising on Newport were ousted to Tasmania after the Chartist March of 1839. Trade in Chepstow declined during the 19th century as the port towns of Newport, Swansea and Cardiff began to grow. However, it did see a brief resurgence in activity as a shipyard during World War I.
Chepstow’s close links to the M4 mean that transport around the area is easy to navigate. It has a close proximity to the English border, and is the first major town on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge. Its location makes this fairly anglicised town the perfect base from which to explore further into South Wales or the nearby English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Chepstow sits at the tail end of the Wye Valley, an Area of Outstanding National Beauty, allowing visitors to enjoy scenery and history at the same time. There are no less than ten castles to be found in the county, a result of past Roman, Norman and English occupation of Wales. A particularly pleasant walk is that from Chepstow to Tintern Abbey, built by Cistercian monks in 1131. This is a striking example of medieval religious architecture, which inspired Wordsworth to write the poem Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.
Chepstow town grew around the castle, and by the middle ages was the largest river port in Wales, trading in timber and oak, and importing wine. Chepstow port was also the point from which the three organisers of the Chartist uprising on Newport were ousted to Tasmania after the Chartist March of 1839. Trade in Chepstow declined during the 19th century as the port towns of Newport, Swansea and Cardiff began to grow. However, it did see a brief resurgence in activity as a shipyard during World War I.
Chepstow’s close links to the M4 mean that transport around the area is easy to navigate. It has a close proximity to the English border, and is the first major town on the Welsh side of the Severn Bridge. Its location makes this fairly anglicised town the perfect base from which to explore further into South Wales or the nearby English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Chepstow sits at the tail end of the Wye Valley, an Area of Outstanding National Beauty, allowing visitors to enjoy scenery and history at the same time. There are no less than ten castles to be found in the county, a result of past Roman, Norman and English occupation of Wales. A particularly pleasant walk is that from Chepstow to Tintern Abbey, built by Cistercian monks in 1131. This is a striking example of medieval religious architecture, which inspired Wordsworth to write the poem Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.