Llandogo

Llandogo ( _cy. Llaneuddogwy) is a small village in Monmouthshire, south Wales, located 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 across into the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England.

History

The village derives its name from St. Oudoceus, or Euddogwy, supposedly the third Bishop of Llandaff but who in fact probably lived in the 7th century. He came to live in the area and died here around the year 700 [ [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/euddogwy.html EBK: St. Euddogwy alias Oudoceus ] ] . The present church is on the site of a 7th or 8th century foundation, but was wholly rebuilt in 1860 [ [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/69769 Photo of church at Geograph] ] .

Llandogo was historically a port, renowned at one time for building of the trow, a flat-bottomed river boat that until the 19th century was used for trading up and down the River Wye, also on the River Severn shore and across the Severn estuary and the Bristol Channel to Bristol. The boat gave its name to the historic Llandoger Trow pub close to the harbour in Bristol. The bell of 'The William and Sarah', one of the last Chepstow barges to trade on the river, can be found in the bell tower of the church at Llandogo.

Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement, spent several summers as a boy at The Priory in Llandogo, and recounts in the 6th yarn of "Scouting For Boys" an expedition by folding boat up the River Thames, down the River Avon and across the Severn Estuary, finishing in Llandogo. Quite a trip.

Areas of Interest

There are many local walks along the river bank and up through the village to Cleddon Shoots, a local Site of Special Scientific Interest and towards the village of Trellech. The Wye Valley Walk runs along the top of the village, and the Offa's Dyke walk is just across the river. The village is designated as a Conservation Area [ [http://www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/udp/chapter10.html Adopted Unitary Development Plan ] ] .

The village hall, the 'Millennium Hall', was opened in 2003 by Princess Anne. Events are organised by the local community.

Brown's Stores has been the village's only general goods store since 1921 and is still to this day run by the family. The family itself have lived in the village for generations.

The Sloop Inn is the village's only pub and derives its name from the sloops that traded up and down the River Wye and across the Bristol Channel, being larger than the smaller, lighter flat bottomed trows.

References

External links

* [http://www.wyevalleywalk.org/english/ Wye Valley Walk]
* [http://www.ramblers.org.uk/info/paths/offasdyke.html Offa's Dyke]
* [http://www.thesloopinn.co.uk The Sloop Inn]
* [http://www.thedump.scoutscan.com/yarn06.pdf Baden-Powell's river journey to Llandogo]
* [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=llandogo&sll=53.098145,-2.443696&sspn=8.594576,20.43457&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=51.730776,-2.679033&spn=0.017304,0.053988&t=h&om=1 Google Map of Llandogo]
* [http://www.francisfrith.com/search/wales/gwent/llandogo/photos/llandogo_photos.htm Old Francis Frith photos of Llandogo]
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/MON/Llandogo/index.html Genuki info on Llandogo with historical links]