Brockweir

Brockweir is a small village on the eastern bank of the River Wye, within the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. A road bridge links it across the river to Monmouthshire, Wales, about a mile (1.6 km) outside the village of Tintern and 7½ miles (12 km) north of Chepstow. The village is close to both the Offa's Dyke Path and the Wye Valley Walk.

History

The name Brockweir dates from about the 7th century; previously it was known in Welsh as as "Pwll Brochuail", the pool of Brochuail or Brockmael, a prince of Gwent [http://www.earwego.com/fowv/brockweir.asp Brockweir - Lower Wye Valley ] ] . The weir was owned by Monmouth priory and later Tintern Abbey; its remains can be seen as shallows under Brockweir bridge.

The village existed from at least the 13th century, as a hamlet within the parish of Hewelsfield. The oldest existing building, the Malthouse, dates in part from the 15th century and probably formed part of a grange owned by Tintern Abbey. Another house, the Manor House, dates from about 1600, and many other houses date from the 18th century [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23257 Hewelsfield and Brockweir | British History Online ] ] . For centuries Brockweir had a thriving shipbuilding, fitting-out and repair industry. Brockweir was the highest point reached by a normal tide on the Wye, and a key transhipment point where the cargoes of sea-going ships of up to 90 tonnes [http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/towns/brockweir.htm Brockweir - Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire ] ] were transferred onto barges to be sent upstream, and the products of Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean were sent back to Bristol and beyond. In 1587, one resident, John Gethin, was killed on his boat in the Bristol Channel in an affray with Bristol merchants [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23257 Hewelsfield and Brockweir | British History Online ] ] .

According to some sources, in the early 19th century the village was thought to be one of the most lawless places in the country. Its reputation was earned by having about 16 public houses [http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/towns/brockweir.htm Brockweir - Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire ] ] , to cater for the stevedores who were employed to load and unload the ships at the quayside. Only one narrow road led into the village, and goods were usually carried by donkeys [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23257 Hewelsfield and Brockweir | British History Online ] ] or by water, with a ferry taking travellers to and from the Welsh bank of the Wye [http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/towns/brockweir.htm Brockweir - Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire ] ] . In 1833 the Duke of Beaufort issued an edict for the Moravian Church to be set up in the village because of its lawless reputation, and the church was built on the site of a former cock fighting pit [http://www.earwego.com/fowv/brockweir.asp Brockweir - Lower Wye Valley ] ] . The minister appointed to the church described the life of its watermen as being centred on beerhouses, skittle alleys, and cockfighting, and said that it had the reputation of a "city of refuge" for lawless elements. The church was rebuilt later in the 19th century.

Several chapels, a school, the decline of its trade, and an influx of outsiders to the area gradually changed the character of the village [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23257 Hewelsfield and Brockweir | British History Online ] ] . During the early 20th century several Nonconformist groups, including Quakers, Pentecostalists, and Christian Scientists, held meetings in Brockweir and the surrounding area. The cast iron road bridge was built in Chepstow by Edward Finch & Co., and was opened in 1906. In 1929 a halt was opened on the Wye Valley Railway on the Monmouthshire side of the bridge. The last ship to sail to Brockweir was the "Belle Marie" in 1914 [http://www.fweb.org.uk/Dean/towns/brockweir.htm Brockweir - Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire ] ] , and the last Wye trows were built in the village in 1925.

The writer Flora Klickmann (1867–1958), who wrote several popular books about her experiences of living in the Wye valley as well as on other subjects, is buried at Brockweir.

References

External links

* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23257 History of the area]
* [http://www.john.norman.care4free.net/index.htm More information]