Chepstow Rural District was a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It was established under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, and was abolished in 1974 when its functions were assumed by the new Monmouth District Council. The responsibilities of the Rural District Council included housing, sanitation, sewerage, water supply, refuse collection, road maintenance, cemeteries, parks, and licensing of public entertainments. The council's area covered the civil parishes of

Caerwent Caerwent ( cy, Caer-went) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located about five miles west of Chepstow and 11 miles east of Newport. It was founded by the Romans as the market town of ''Venta Silurum'', an important settle ...

, Caldicot,

Devauden Devauden ( cy, Y Dyfawden) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is located between Chepstow and Monmouth near the top of the Trellech ridge on the B4293 road. The community covers an area of . The community includes th ...

Kilgwrrwg Kilgwrrwg ( cy, Cilgwrrwg) is a rural parish in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom. It is located north west of Chepstow and south east of Usk in a network of country lanes running through the rolling hills below the Trellech ridg ...

, Llanfihangel nigh Rogiet, Llangwm,

Mathern Mathern ( cy, Matharn; older form: ''Merthyr Tewdrig'') is a historic community (parish) and village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about south west of the town of Chepstow, close to the Severn estuary, the Bristol Channel and the M48 mot ...

Portskewett Portskewett ( cy, Porthsgiwed or ''Porthysgewin'') is a village and community (parish) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located four miles south west of Chepstow and one mile east of Caldicot, in an archaeologically sensitive part of the ...

Rogiet Rogiet () cy, Rhosied is a small village and community (and electoral ward) in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, between Caldicot and Magor, west of Chepstow and east of Newport, which covers an area of . It lies close to the M4 and M48 mot ...

, St. Arvans,

Shirenewton Shirenewton ( cy, Drenewydd Gelli-farch) is a village and community in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is located 3 miles due west of Chepstow, 5 miles (8 km) by road. The village stands around 500 feet (154 m) above sea level, and has ...

Tintern Tintern ( cy, Tyndyrn) is a village in the community (Wales), community of Wye Valley (community), Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about north of Chepstow. It is popular w ...

and

Undy Undy ( cy, Gwndy) is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, adjoining the village of Magor with which it forms the community and parish of Magor with Undy. It is located about west of Caldicot and east of Newport, close to the junctio ...

. The town of

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

itself fell under a separate

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

. The Rural District Council was particularly involved in the development of Caldicot as a town. In the 1950s it decided that the village should be allowed to double its existing size, to reach a population of about 3,000. Soon afterwards, the government decided to build a new steelworks at

Llanwern Llanwern is a community in the eastern part of the City of Newport, South East Wales. Llanwern is bounded by the M4 and Langstone to the north, Ringland, Lliswerry and the River Usk to the west, the River Severn to the south and the city bou ...

, and its expansion plans were revised upwards, so that, by the late 1960s, Caldicot had a population of over 7,000. In 1963, the Council bought

Caldicot Castle Caldicot Castle ( cy, Castell Cil-y-coed) is an extensive stone medieval castle in the town of Caldicot, Monmouthshire, in southeast Wales, built near the site of Harold Godwinson's former Saxon castle by the Norman earls of Hereford from abou ...

from the Cobb family for £12,000.

References

External links

Vision of Britain
{{coord, 51.639, -2.678, display=title, region:GB_scale:100000 Rural districts of Wales History of Monmouthshire Chepstow