Villages

Brockhampton

A small and somewhat scattered Herefordshire hamlet with a gem at its heart. Brockhampton Church, an impressive Arts and Crafts building was designed by the architect William Lethaby and features the Burne Jones tapestries made in the workshops of William Morris.

Brockweir

It might look picturesque, but Brockweir was once a frontier-style village with a reputation for drunken and riotous behaviour. As a major shipbuilding community, Brockweir sits at a junction between sea-going ships and river barges. Consequently seamen would dock, unloading their cargoes onto 'trows' which would then head upstream. The mixing of sailors, bargemen and farmers in a village with a dozen or more pubs, beer and cider houses led inevitably to some unruly behaviour. In 1832 the Moravian Church arrived, the first minister describing the life of Brockweir's watermen as: "Beerhouses, skittle alleys and cockfighting", and claimed the village had the reputation as a: "city of refuge" for lawless elements. The whitewashed Moravian church itself was built on a forrmer cock-fighting pit and the minister tasked to redeem the character of the natives. Today Brockweir is somewhat more sedate, with a country pub and the Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village eco-shop which stocks local produce and has a team room for light refreshments. Below the bridge you can see the well-preserved remains of Brockweir Quay, where canoes can be launched.

Brampton Abbotts

A village on the outskirts of Ross-on-Wye, with easy access to the Wye Valley Walk. The picturesque Norman church of St. Michael has a square bell cot of timber in shingle-work.

Carey

A secluded rural hamlet, near the River Wye. Its timber-framed, thatched inn, The Cottage of Content, dates from the 15th Century.

Devauden

Surrounded by woods, Devauden sits on a plateau above the Wye Valley, with one eye towards the South Wales valleys. As well as a small green, pub and shop, there's good walking in Chepstow Park Wood owned by Forestry Commission Wales. Devauden and the nearby Fedw or Veddw weren't originally villages, but clusters of illicit cottages built by woodcutters, mule drivers, quarrymen and labourers linked to the wireworks at Tintern and the Angidy.

Foy and Hole in the Wall

A single span suspension bridge, built in 1919, links these two riverside hamlets. The little church of St Mary at Foy stands beside an 18th Century vicarage. According to the Domesday records Hole in the Wall was originally called 'Turlestone', a name meaning 'Hole Stone'. The settlement has several claims to fame. It was the location for some of the early episodes of the apocalyptic 1970's TV series 'Survivors' by Terry Nation, who wrote the original Dr Who series. It was also home to the first PGL outdoor activity centre. Founder, Peter Gordon Lawrence (PGL) started what is now a multi-million pound company in 1957 with canoeing and camping trips down the Wye.

Fownhope

A large sprawling village situated close to the river, between the hilltop camps of Cherry Hill and Capler Camp. It has an attractive church with a central Norman tower. The village is one of the few to retain the custom of celebrating Oak Apple Day each May.

Goodrich

An attractive hilltop village of about 400 people with a pub and thriving shop. Little is known about the settlement, although there were Iron Age camps on Huntsham Hill and the nearby Doward and the area became part of Roman 'Archenfield', a town on the outskirts of Ross-on-Wye. The Domesday Book records a manor owned by Godric Mappeston, from whom Goodrich probably derives its name. Godric probably built the earliest incarnation of Goodrich Castle which was later extended by the Normans to become one of the most complete Medieval castles in the borders. The castle was garrisoned by the Roundheads durng the Civil War, then re-garrisoned by the Royalists who were beseiged in 1646 and then surrendered after the castle was pounded by 'Roaring Meg' - then the largest canon in the World. Vicar of The 13th Century church of St Giles during the Civil War was arch Royalist, Rev Thomas Swift, grandfather of Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels). Opposite the village is Coppett Hill, one of the largest commons in Herefordshire run by The Coppett Hill Common Trust. A new booklet of walks around Coppett Hill, all starting from Goodrich Castle was published this year (2007).

 

Hoarwithy

A small riverside village dominated by a remarkable Italianate Church, dating from 1885, and boasting a pub.

Holme Lacy

The site of Holme Lacy College, Herefordshire's Agricultural College, and Holme Lacy House (now a hotel), seat of the Scudamore family for centuries. Holme Lacy Estate is a working organic farm, and its woodlands and medieval deer park are now being managed for their exceptional wildlife interest. Footpaths and tracks for walkers, riders and cyclists have opened up this area to visitors. The Estate is part of Project Carrot - an innovative programme supporting the development of a more sustainable Herefordshire. Also in the village is Shipley Gardens with its nursery and tea rooms.

How Caple

Stroll around 11-acres of Edwardian gardens at How Caple Court, overlooking the River Wye, these gardens offer walks and include a medieval church with beautiful stained glass windows. Cafe and tea room on site.

King's Caple

Small agricultural village set in rich farmland and partially (and controversially) surrounded by polytunnels growing strawberries and soft fruit. The beautiful red sandstone church of St John the Baptist stands on high ground beside the medieval Castle Tump, site of a motte and bailey castle.

Llandogo

A hillside village surrounded by woodland and riverside walks. A maze of paths zig zag up through the village and alongside Cleddon Shoots, and the Wye Valley Walk is above the village. Llandogo was once an important river port and barge-building village. Its pub, The Sloop Inn, owes its name to this. Flat-bottomed barges known as trows, which worked the river between here and Bristol, gave name to the 17th Century Llandoger Trow, a well known Bristol harbourside public house. The bell of The William and Sarah, one of the last Chepstow barges to trade on the river can be found in church at Llandogo.

Llanishen

A steep hillside village on the Trellech plateau, benefitting from panoramic views of the Vale of Usk and the Black Mountains. Small church, pub and garage.

Lydbrook

An important industrial port in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries with an industrial history continuing into the 20th Century.

Mitchel Troy

A village sandwiched between the river Trothy to the north and the Wye to the east, and the site of The Glen Trothy caravan and campsite. The church of St Michael was built in the early 13th century and is approached through an arched lych gate. On a sunny day, stop at the restaurant at nearby Millbrook Garden Centre and relax over a cup of tea on their decked outdoor seating area. Mitchel Troy Common provides views over the town of Monmouth and the river Wye.

Mordiford

This village, with a legendary dragon, grew up around an ancient ford over the River Lugg. Follow the Mordiford Loop Walk to discover this atmospheric landscape. Nearby is Sufton House, a small Palladian mansion set in parkland.

Penallt

A village hub with a range of small cottages spreading into the surrounding countryside and down the wooded and isolated slopes of the valley to the Wye. Penallt used to have a school (now closed) and three churches (two closed). 12th Century Penallt Old Church is s a mile or so away from the village but does command glorious views over the Wye Valley and features one of the largest veteran trees in the Lower Wye - a churchyard yew. George Bernard Shaw used to cycle 'dangerously' along the lanes around Penallt and said: "The God who made this country was an artist." 17th Century Bush Inn in the village centre, beside the green, is open for food and drinks.

Redbrook

A village which retains the sense of a long industrial past, Redbrook sits on one side of the river with Penallt on the slopes of the other. Streams flowing down the hillside into Redbrook - including the Redbrook itself, at one time powered more than 40 iron forges and mills. When iron-making declined, Redbrook helped rejuvinate Britain's copper industry, with more than 26 copper furnaces at work in 1725. Later, it became renowned for manufacturing high quality tinplate, used to seal tobacco and confectionary tins. Railways also stamped their mark on the village with the Penallt Viaduct crossing the river - there was a station on either side - and a tramway and railway bringing coal down from the Forest of Dean. Redbrook has two pubs, a Milennium village green, new village store and the Wye Valley Walk passes through.

Sellack

The views from this peaceful village look over the Wye towards Kings Caple and upstream towards the woods of How Caple. The black and white inn, the Lough Pool, lies along the Ross to Hoarwithy Road.

Staunton

A small village, with a Norman church, Staunton was named "the place of the stones" by the Anglo-Saxons. From here you can visit the Buckstone, in Highmeadow Woods, a popular, panoramic viewpoint. Local legend claims it was a sacred Druid site. The Staunton Longstone, a Bronze Age standing stone, can be seen alongside the A4136, between Staunton and Coleford. Other megaliths are the Toad's Mouth, by the road at the west end of the village, the Broad Stone, in the fields of Broadstone farm, and the Suckstone in Highmeadow Woods.

St Briavels

On a plateau about 800ft above the Wye Valley, St Briavels commands spectacular views. The large village is tightly concentrated around its church and 12th Century castle, now used as a youth hostel. A Norman castle, St Briavels was visited by Henry II, Henry III and John of Magna Carta fame, who used it as a hunting lodge. In the 13th Century it became an armaments factory, producing crossbow bolts for the royal armies, then later on an administrative centre for the Forest of Dean, court and prison. St Briavel's itself used to have four pubs as well as an alehouse kept in the castle by the gaoler of the debtors' prison. The village had a reputation for unruly behaviour, with cockfighting gatherings and drunken brawls during an ancient ceremony distributing bread and cheese to the poor at Whitsun. Today the village boasts two pubs and a thriving local produce market in the Assembly Rooms.

Tintern

Described as one of the most 'Romantic' villages in Britain, the village forms a narrow riverside strip dominated by the spectacular remains of Tintern Abbey. Founded in 1131, Tintern was the first Cistercian abbey in Wales and ultimately its richest, with extensive estates. The monks not only ran sheep farms, but also dabbled in industry, smelting bronze and setting up wireworks. The village features a number of pubs and hotels, a vinyard and craft centre. About a mile to the north of the village, The Old Station, Tintern is a former Victorian railway station with a seasonal cafe, play area, riverside walks and local history exhibits in former railway carriages.

Trellech

Once one of the largest settlements in Wales (bigger than Cardiff), Trellech's a village with iits fair share of history and legend - mostly surrounding its church, its three standing stones, officially known as Harold's Stones, and St Anne's Well, or the Virtuous Well. The village is the largest on the Trellech Plateau and has a pub. The leaflet "Wells and Springs and Things" (£1.20) from a local Tourist Information Centre will lead you on a fascinating 7.5km circular walk starting from the village.

Welsh Bicknor

A tiny Herefordshire settlement surrounded by the Courtfield Estate. The estate owners, the Vaughan family were once well-known Catholic recusants and at one time a mob pillaged the house in search of the family priest who spent a week hiding in the woods. Welsh Bicknor Church is now closed, but the nearby Rectory is a thriving Youth Hostel which celebrates its 70th birthday this year.

English Bicknor

Across the river from Welsh Bicknor and hidden in the hills is the larger Gloucestershire village of English Bicknor. As well as the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle, there's an impressive Norman Church with a history linked to the original Royal Engineers. Edward Machen was a local estate owner who is famed for replanting the Forest of Dean with more than 50 million trees. At one time there were three pubs in English Bicknor, but a prominent temperance family bought and closed them - hence there's no pub in the village. Yat Rock viewpoint and the Coldwell Rocks all lie within English Bicknor Parish.

Whitchurch

Right on the riverbank, with its own landing steps, the parish church of St Dubricius dates from the 13th Century, although its foundations go back even further, to the 9 th Century. Near the village, on the Doward, is King Arthur's Cave. The concert venue Wyastone Leys is close by.

Whitebrook

The stream to which the village owes its name provided power for mills producing high quality paper for banknotes in the Eighteenth Century. A mile below the village, Bigsweir Bridge (built 1827) crosses the river Wye. A new book: Whitebrook, A Community Brought to Life Through Images and Recollections recalls memories of life in what was a very poor vrural village, to order email Information. Today, despite its remote setting in a narrow wooded valley, Whitebrook has a top quality restaurant and some of the most expensive property anywhere on the Wye.

Woolhope

On the border of the AONB, this village stands on the plateau of the Woolhope Dome, in an area with a great variety of fossils, flora and fauna.