Bigsweir Bridge is an 1827 road bridge crossing the River Wye, straddling the boundary between the parish of St. Briavels,

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 Gl ...

, England, and

Llandogo Llandogo ( cy, Llaneuddogwy) is a small village in Monmouthshire, south Wales, between Monmouth and Chepstow in the lower reaches of the Wye Valley AONB, two miles north of Tintern. It is set on a steep hillside overlooking the River Wye and a ...

, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Location

The bridge carries the A466 road, and is located about north of the village of Llandogo, south of Whitebrook, and west of the village of St Briavels. It is the

Normal Tidal Limit Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, ...

of the River Wye, and navigation below this point falls under the jurisdiction of the

Gloucester Harbour Trustees The Gloucester Harbour Trustees are the competent harbour authority (CHA) for the tidal part of the River Severn from the Gloucester weirs (Llanthony Llanthony (, cy, Llanddewi Nant Honddu ) is a village in the community of Crucorney on the ...

The bridge

The elegant

cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

road bridge was built in 1827 as part of the new turnpike road constructed up the lower part of the Wye valley between

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 wester ...

and Monmouth. The bridge connects the English and Welsh sides of the river, with an abandoned but recently restored

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th an ...

on the Welsh side. The bridge comprises a single arch of , and was designed by Charles Hollis of London and cast at Merthyr Tydfil. A pair of stone

flood arch A flood arch is a small supplemental arch bridge provided alongside a main bridge. It provides extra capacity for floodwater. The space beneath a flood arch is normally dry and often carries a towpath A towpath is a road or trail on th ...

es were added at each end some years later, doubling the length of the bridge. Because of its narrow width, modern traffic using the

A466 The A466, also known as the Wye Valley Road, is a road from Hereford, England to Chepstow, Wales via Monmouth, Tintern and the Wye Valley. The road was largely developed during the late 18th and early 19th centuries by turnpike trusts in Herefo ...

is controlled by traffic signals at either end. Bigsweir Bridge became a Grade II*

listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1988. The bridge was repaired, strengthened and repainted in 2010–11.

Locality

There is no village at Bigsweir. The bridge is about upstream of the fishing

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

and

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

of Bigsweir, which is close to Bigsweir House. According to Sir Joseph Bradney, the weir, one of many of ancient origin on the river, was named after Buddig or Budic, the father of Euddogwy or

Oudoceus Saint Oudoceus (Latin) or Euddogwy (Welsh language, Welsh) (c.536–c.615 or 625) is generally known as the third Bishop of Llandaff in South Wales. In reality he was probably a 7th-century bishop at Llandeilo Fawr. Wendy Davies puts his epi ...

, a 7th-century Welsh bishop who retired to Llandogo. Recorded early spellings of the name include Bikeswere and Brithekeswere. Fishing rights at Bigsweir were mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

. By 1331 the rights were held by the monks of

Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( cy, Abaty Tyndyrn ) was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. It is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the bo ...

, some downstream of the weir, and there were objections to the abbey raising the level of the weir and so impeding navigation. The rights over the weir transferred to the

Earl of Worcester Earl of Worcester is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. Five creations The first creation came in 1138 in favour of the Norman noble Waleran de Beaumont. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leice ...

in 1537, later passing to his successors, the

Dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Som ...

.St. Briavels at British History Online
Retrieved 11 February 2015

Bigsweir House and estate

The Bigsweir estate, on the Gloucestershire side of the weir, was originally part of the lands of the Bishops of Hereford, before the freehold passed to Thomas Catchmay in 1445. It remained the main seat and estate of the Catchmay (or Catchmayde) family for several centuries. Bigsweir House itself was rebuilt around 1740, probably by William Catchmay (d.1743). It is a building of two storeys built of sandstone, with a symmetrical five-bay front. Additions were made to the house after it passed to James Rooke (d.1805). The estate was enlarged by purchases of woodland, and the house itself was refurbished with rich internal decoration, including panelled rooms and elaborate cornices and architraves. Further extensions were added in the 20th century. Bigsweir House is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

, added to the register in 1954. It was filmed in 2018 for the critically acclaimed

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...

''.

References

{{Reflist Bridges in Monmouthshire Bridges in Gloucestershire Cast-iron arch bridges in England Cast-iron arch bridges in Wales Grade II* listed bridges in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire Bridges across the River Wye Former toll bridges in England Former toll bridges in Wales Bridges completed in 1827 Grade II* listed buildings in Monmouthshire

Location

The bridge

Locality

Bigsweir House and estate

See also

References