Gilwern is a village within the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain ...

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 ...

. Historically in

Brecknockshire , image_flag= , HQ= Brecon , Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974) , Origin= Brycheiniog , Status= , Start= 1535 , End= ...

, it extends to either side of the River Clydach on the south side of the Usk valley. Its position beside the

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal ( cy, Camlas Sir Fynwy a Brycheiniog) is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National parks of England and Wales, Na ...

led to it being an important industrial centre at one time.

Location

Gilwern is a village historically in Breconshire now in Monmouthshire about west of

Abergavenny Abergavenny (; cy, Y Fenni , archaically ''Abergafenni'' meaning "mouth of the River Gavenny") is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a ''Gateway to Wales''; it is approximately from the border wi ...

, close to where the A40 trunk road and the A465 Heads of the Valleys road meet. The

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

and the

are close to the village. Gilwern Hill lies to the south of the village. It is partly tree-clad and has a mast on top. The name of the village translates from the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''Y Gilwern'' (from ''cil-gwern'') as "the recess (or bend) of the

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

s", probably a reference to its position at the point where the

Clydach Gorge The Clydach Gorge (also known as Cwm Clydach) is a steep-sided valley in south-east Wales down which the River Clydach flows to the River Usk. It runs for from the vicinity of Brynmawr in Blaenau Gwent eastwards and northeastwards to Gilwern ...

opens out into the Usk Valley and the River Clydach flows into a sharp bend in the

. The village is within the

Llanelly Llanelly ( cy, Llanelli) is the name of a parish and coterminous community in the principal area of Monmouthshire, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, south-east Wales. It roughly covers the area of the Clydach Gorge. The popula ...

parish ward of

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) ( cy, Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 an ...

. The church of Llanelly, dedicated to

St Elli Saint Elli was a 6th-century Welsh saint, or possibly two saints. Llanelli in Carmarthenshire and Llanelly in Monmouthshire (formerly in Breconshire) are both named after Elli. There are traditions about a male saint Elli and a female saint Elli ...

, is on the hillside above the village, and parts date back to the 12th century.

Notable people

Francis Jayne Francis John Jayne (1 January 1845 – 23 August 1921) was a British bishop and academic. Born in Pant-y-beiliau, Gilwern, Llanelli, Jayne was the eldest son of John Jayne, a colliery owner and his second wife, Elisabeth Haines. He was edu ...

(1845–1921), academic and

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the C ...

from 1889, born in Pant-y-beiliau * James Edmunds (1882–1962), a Welsh trade unionist and politician. *

Mansel Thomas Mansel Treharne Thomas, (12 June 1909 – 8 January 1986) was a Welsh composer and conductor, who worked mainly in South Wales. He was one of the most influential musicians of his generation, known as a composer, conductor and adjudicator. He ...

OBE (1909–1986), a Welsh composer and conductor, died in the town

Industrial history and attractions

The local area has a history of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

production. The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, which has a wharf at Gilwern, was built to transport

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and iron products from the surrounding area using a network of tramways and railroads. The Clydach Railroad and the Llam-march Tramroad both serviced the wharf with materials gathered and produced further up the

. Both are still visible, the former being a road and the latter a footpath between Gilwern and Clydach. The canal crosses the River Clydach on the Gilwern Aqueduct, an embankment over 90 feet high, just next to Gilwern Wharf. The former Navigation Inn and the Towpath Inn stand on either side of the canal just beyond the aqueduct.

World's Widest Concrete-Spanned Bridge

Gilwern's precast-concrete arched bridge, on the

A465 The A465 is a trunk road that runs from Bromyard in Herefordshire, England to Llandarcy near Swansea in South Wales. The western half is known officially as the Neath to Abergavenny Trunk Road, but the section from Abergavenny to the Vale of N ...

, ('Head of Valleys Road'), between Gilwern and

Brynmawr Brynmawr (; , ,) is a market town, community and electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at the head of the South Wales Valleys. It grew with the devel ...

, is made of 70 individual units. The bridge structure is believed to be the widest-spanned, pre-cast concrete arched bridge in the world. It has 70 pre-cast units, each weighing, (approximately), 27.5 tons. Its approximated measurements are a total length of 173.4 ft.; a height of 20.6 feet; and a span of 95.9 feet. Three local residents were the first to drive over the bridge when it was formally opened, replacing a former junction, at 14.30 hrs., on Thursday, January 26, 2018. The precast arch over the canal on the

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations. Demogra ...

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

Link Road was the previous record holder. The Usk Valley Walk passes through Gilwern.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Monmouthshire Brecon Beacons River Usk