Osbaston is a suburb of

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

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

, located less than north of the town centre. It was the site of one of the first public electricity generating stations in Britain, using

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...

from the

River Monnow The River Monnow () marks the England–Wales border for much of its length. After flowing through southwest Herefordshire, England, and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales, its confluence with the River Wye is approximately south of Monmouth. The ...

Monmouth forge, weir and power station

The first records of a water-powered

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

for iron working on the River Monnow at Osbaston date from the 12th century, when one was owned by Baderon of Monmouth. A new forge, used for iron production, was built at Osbaston by 1628. Forge workers' cottages nearby date from the late 18th century, and include two small cottages on either side of a pair of two larger houses, for the higher status workmen.Newman, p.412 The nearby Osbaston

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 water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

, associated with the forge, prevented

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

and other fish reaching their

spawning ground Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is known as spawning. The ...

s. It has been a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 8 October 2005. In 1899,

Monmouth Corporation Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) () is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 and covers the eastern ...

established one of the first publicly owned electricity generating stations in the country at Osbaston. The power station used

to drive turbines. The height of the weir was raised to impound a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

, and the water was directed by a

leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...

to the turbines underneath the brick building, which housed three

alternator An alternator (or synchronous generator) is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field wit ...

s. Engineering Timelines, Monmouth Forge Generating Station
Retrieved 28 March 2012 In 1930, the power station was bought by part of the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

, and continued to operate for another twenty years.Alan Sutton Publishing, ''Monmouth and the River Wye in Old Photographs'', Alan Sutton Publishing, 1989, , page 75 In 2008, the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

created a £600,000

fish pass A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...

so that salmon could avoid the weir and spawn upstream. The following year migratory salmon were found above the fish pass, at

Kentchurch Kentchurch is a small village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. It is located some south-west of Hereford and north-east of Abergavenny, beside the River Monnow and adjoining the boundary between England and Wales. The village name ...

. During the engineering work for the fish pass, remains of the old power station were uncovered. Landowner Ronald Kear proposed that the power station be rebuilt and, working in partnership with Environment Agency Wales, invested £500,000 in the project. The electricity scheme uses an

Archimedes' screw The Archimedes' screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest documented hydraulic machines. It was so-named after the Greek mathematician Archimedes who first described it ...

which powers a generator. It is now operated by the Old Manor Electric Company, and produces 670

MWh A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

of electricity each year for the National Grid, which is sufficient to power over 150 homes. The combined hydroelectric and fish pass project was officially opened by Prince Edward in 2009. Monnow Mill, a watermill producing flour from the 15th century is situated on the outskirts of Osbaston about half a mile down stream from the power station. The building is now a private residence.

Notable houses and residents

Osbaston House (also known as Great Osbaston House), located 1 km north of

Monmouth Castle Monmouth Castle () is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south-east Wales. Once an important border castle, and birthplace of Henry V of England, it stood ...

on the east bank of the

, has been a

Grade II Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 15 August 1974. The house's occupants have included Captain George William Moyse Harmer in 1901, Robert Alan Russel MacClelland in 1967, and Michael John Marshal Clarke (

High Sheriff of Gwent The office of High Sheriff of Gwent was established in 1974 under section 219 of the Local Government Act 1972, replacing the shrievalty of Monmouthshire. List of Sheriffs See also * High Sheriff of Monmouthshire References {{High Shrieval ...

) in 1985. Major-General Lennox Alexander Hawkins Napier, C.B., O.B.E., M.C., of Osbaston Farm, was

in 1988. To the east of the Old Hereford Road, Priory Farm is a high quality building of the late 17th century, which was said to have borne a date of 1672 on a now-eroded datestone. The house comprises a range of five bays and two storeys under a steeply pitched roof. The end gables are of limestone blocks, with the main east front built of purplish-red brick, enhanced with fine limestone details.John Newman, ''The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire'', Penguin Books, 2000, , p.411 Surrounding farm buildings include what is described as "an enigmatic building of

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

rubble, partly of three storeys, partly of two, probably C17."

Representation

Osbaston is part of the Dixton with Osbaston electoral division of

Monmouthshire County Council Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) () is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales. The current unitary authority was created in 1996 and covers the eastern ...

, currently represented by conservative councillor R Rodin.

Schools and other amenities

Osbaston has a primary school, Osbaston Church in Wales School, and a public house, the

Royal Oak The Royal Oak was the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House ...

, on the Hereford Road.The Royal Oak, Monmouth
/ref>

Notes

{{reflist Monmouth, Wales