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Chepstow
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Of all the places that call themselves "the gateway to Wales",
CHEPSTOW
(Cas-Gwent) has probably the greatest claim, situated on the western bank of the River Wye just over a mile from where its tidal waters flow out into the muddy Severn estuary. Chepstow is a sturdy place robbed of the immediate charm of many other Welsh market towns by soulless modern developments. Nonetheless, there's an identifiably medieval street plan hemmed in by the thirteenth-century
Port Wall
, which encases a tight loop of the River Wye and the strategically sited
Chepstow Castle
(June-Sept daily 9.30am-6pm; April, May & Oct daily 9.30am-5pm; Nov-March Mon-Sat 9.30am-4pm, Sun 11am-4pm; ?3). Guarding one of the most important routes into Wales, Chepstow was the first stone castle to be built in Britain, the Great Tower keep being built in 1067 to help subdue the restless Welsh. The Lower Ward is the largest of the three enclosures and dates mainly from the thirteenth century. Here you'll find the
Great Hall
, the home of a wide-ranging exhibition on the history of the castle, with particular emphasis on the English Civil War years, when Royalist Chepstow was twice besieged. Twelfth-century defences separate the Lower Ward from the Middle Ward, which is dominated by the still imposing ruins of the
Great Tower
. Beyond this is the far narrower Upper Ward, which leads up to the Barbican
watchtower
from where there are superb views looking down the cliff to the river estuary.
Opposite is the
Chepstow Museum
(Mon-Sat 11am-1pm & 2-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; ?1) containing nostalgic photographs and paintings of the trades supported in the past by the River Wye, and recording Chepstow's brief life in the early part of this century as a shipbuilding centre. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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