Beachley is a village in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

, England, near the border with

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, wit ...

, Wales. It is located on a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the rivers Wye and Severn, where the Severn Bridge ends and the smaller secondary bridge over the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of the border between England and Wales ...

begins, both bridges carrying the

M48 motorway The M48 is a long motorway in Great Britain, which crosses the Severn near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, linking England with Wales via the Severn Bridge. This road used to be the M4, and as a result is anomalously numbered: as it lies to the ...

between England and Wales though the motorway is not directly accessible from the village. The tidal range on this stretch of water is the highest in the UK. Before the construction of the bridge it was a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

port from where the

Aust Ferry Aust Ferry or Beachley Ferry was a ferry service that operated across the River Severn between Aust and Beachley, both in Gloucestershire, England. Before the Severn Bridge opened in 1966, it provided service for road traffic crossing between ...

operated until 1966.The population in 2011 was 764.

History

Before the 9th century, the Beachley peninsula and the mouth of the Wye were part of 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 peopl ...

kingdom of Gwent Gwent ( owl, Guent) was a medieval Welsh kingdom, lying between the Rivers Wye and Usk. It existed from the end of Roman rule in Britain in about the 5th century until the Norman invasion of Wales in the 11th century. Along with its neighb ...

. A small chapel was founded at what was then the southernmost point of the peninsula - now a tidal island known as Chapel Rock - traditionally in the 4th century by Tecla, a princess of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, an ...

who retired there as a hermit before being murdered by raiders from the sea. A chapel dedicated to

St Twrog Saint Twrog - feast day 26 June - was a 6th-century Welsh saint who founded the church at Maentwrog, having come to Wales early in the Age of the Saints. Early life It is believed that Twrog was the son of Ithel Hael o Lydaw of Brittany. He ...

, perhaps containing a navigation light, was later built on the rock but was ruined before the 18th century. Chapel Rock, Beachley

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to ha ...

, built by the

Mercians la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

in the 8th century, cuts off the peninsula to the north. In 956, Beachley was part of lands granted by King Edwy to

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th ...

. According to historians interpreting the writings of

Walter Map Walter Map ( la, Gualterius Mappus; 1130 – 1210) was a medieval writer. He wrote '' De nugis curialium'', which takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering insights on the history of his time. Map was a court ...

, it is likely that Beachley was the site of an unprecedented meeting around 1056 between the unchallenged ruler of Wales,

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffydd ap Llywelyn ( 5 August 1063) was King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He had previously been King of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, and the great-gre ...

, and the king of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æt ...

, to establish each one's areas of control. Miranda Aldhouse-Green and Ray Howell (eds.), ''Gwent In Prehistory and Early History: The Gwent County History Vol.1'', 2004, The crossing of the

Severn estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

between Beachley and

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M ...

was probably in use from antiquity and was long the chief route between southern England and southern Wales. It was recorded in the 12th century when the

de Clare The House of Clare was a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house that held at various times the earldoms of Pembroke, Hertford and Gloucester in England and Wales, as well as playing a prominent role in the Norman invasion of Ireland. They were de ...

s, lords of

Tidenham Tidenham () is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west and the River Severn to the south. Offa ...

, granted quittance of the passage to the monks of

Tintern Tintern ( cy, Tyndyrn) is a village in the community of 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 with tourists, in particular for the scenery ...

, and was evidently much used in 1405 when great numbers of the English and Welsh were said to resort to the nearby chapel of St Twrog. The manor of Tidenham retained rights over the passage, and received rents from the parishes of Aust and Beachley, until the 19th century.Ancient ferries
/ref> Beachley was the site of fighting in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. It was garrisoned by Royalists under Sir John Wintour, but was overrun in October 1644 by Parliamentary forces under Col. Edward Massey. St John's Church was built in 1833 by

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

architects Foster and Okely. Its cost was borne largely by James Jenkins, the owner of Beachley Manor. In the 1850s the rector was Rev. G.W. Bridges, an early photographer.

Army Apprentices College

In 1915, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the government requisitioned a large area of land at Beachley and constructed

National Shipyard The National Shipyards, in the United Kingdom, were an initiative to expand merchant ship production during the First World War, proposed and partially completed by the coalition government led by David Lloyd George. Three shipyards were propose ...

No.2. However, the war ended before production had begun. Instead, in 1924 it was decided to establish a British Army Apprentices School (which in 1966 was renamed as an

Army Apprentices College The Army Apprentices College was a college system in the United Kingdom that offered military training, education and common core skills, leadership and adventurous training, character development and trade training. History The advent of mechanis ...

) at Beachley to ensure a core of qualified soldiers with excellent technical education combined with first class military training as potential NCOs and officers mainly for the specialist corps

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's f ...

Plant Operator mechanics and

RAOC The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

. The AAC closed in 1994, and the army converted the site to an infantry barracks. After the recent reorganisation of the Army, "Future Army Structures" and "Future Infantry Structures" this is now the permanent home of the First Battalion

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerl ...

Amenities

The old ferry slipway is now used by the

Severn Area Rescue Association Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) or Severn Rescue is an independent, marine and land based, search and rescue organisation covering the Severn Estuary and upper reaches of the River Severn. SARA is the largest independent lifeboat service ...

(SARA), whose Beachley lifeboat station is next to the slipway. SARA has been established for over 40 years and is considered to be the second largest UK lifeboat association (the largest being the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

). SARA currently operates six lifeboat rescue stations on the Severn between Newport and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

and is staffed entirely by volunteers. In addition to lifeboat duties, SARA also has cliff rescue, flood and land search capabilities. SARA is a member of

Mountain Rescue England and Wales Mountain rescue services in England and Wales operate under the association of Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW), formerly called Mountain Rescue Council of England & Wales. The association has a number of regional mountain rescue teams, ...

(MREW). The

Aust Severn Powerline Crossing Aust Severn Powerline Crossing is the longest overhead power line span in the United Kingdom with a length of . History The crossing spans the River Severn between Aust and Beachley and is part of the National Grid. It was commissioned in 19 ...

runs over the river at Beachley to Aust. A tunnel also runs under the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

between Beachley and

carrying electric cables.

References

Sources

* Captain John Barnes RAEC and Major David Thomas RAEC (edd), ''The Story of the Army Apprentices College, Chepstow 1923-1983'' * David Verey, ''Gloucestershire: The Vale and Forest of Dean'', The Buildings of England, edited by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

, 2nd ed (1976)

External links