The Wye Valley Tour one balmy day in September, a group of people from Caldicot U3A had a selective tour of some sites included in the ‘Overlooking the Wye’ project in the Wye Valley A.O.N.B. Guide for the day was Sue Middleton, scheme manager for the project. The work on the various sites was largely financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Origin of the Walks
In the 1750s the parkland surrounding Piercefield House was landscaped by Valentine Morris, his father having bought the house in 1740. He also laid out the Piercefield Walks, parts of which are now included in the Wye Valley Walk.

The winding walks along the edge of the Wye Valley opened at a series of viewpoints onto magnificent vistas of the meandering river below.

Their fame attracted many tourists, artists and writers. Morris entertained visitors with legendary extravagance. In 1772 debts drove him back to his estates in the West Indies. Appointed governor of the island of St Vincent, he helped finance its attempted defence against the French.

On his return to London, he was confined a debtors’ prison, his wife went to a madhouse, and he eventually had to sell Piercefield. He died in 1789, his many great achievements marred by his financial ruin.

Subsequent owners straightened out sections of walks, allowed some viewpoints to decline, and limited visitors to a few days a week. However the walks remained an important attraction until the 1850s. Two of the viewpoints are ‘The Alcove’ and ‘Eagle’s Nest’.

The Alcove
The railing at Alcove is new – original was hidden by vegetation. The alcove was positioned to be on the edge of the cliff; it was designed to give view, but with a protective shelter.

A large cavity was found underneath, occupied by bats; conservation work had to take account of presence and habits of the creatures. Further along the path is ‘The Platform’ which is no longer the viewpoint it once was since the yew trees which surround it have grown tall.

Next on the walk is ‘the Grotto’, the interior of which was originally decorated with sparkly stones and shells. The experience of one group of 19th century visitors is quoted on an adjacent plaque:

‘The grotto was found to be full of gay ladies and gentlemen, and therefore the interior could not be examined’
.
Beyond that is Giant’s Cave, which needed rebuilding, and Lovers’ Leap, on the edge of a high cliff.

 



Eagle’s Nest
The view obtained from the Eagle’s Nest (on the Wynd Cliff) is somewhat similar to that from the Alcove, but at a much higher level. It goes without saying that the people doing the conservation work had to be expert climbers as well as stonemasons.

 

 

 

Abbey Mill
The waterwheel which survives is original, but extensively refurbished. On the other side of the building that houses it was an even larger wheel. There were possibly a total of twenty waterwheels in the Wye Valley and its tributaries.

The various wheels provided power for iron workings in the Angiddy Valley, paper making at Whitebrook and copper smelting at Redbrook. The lawn outside the Abbey Mill was once a tidal dock; shallow-draught vessels could enter the dock on the incoming tide, load or unload cargo, and leave on the next outgoing tide. The waterwheels at Abbey Mill have been used for many purposes, the most recent one being to power sawmills.

Lower Wireworks
The wireworks lay near the bottom of the Angiddy Valley. A spur of the Wye Valley Railway was built by the Duke of Beaufort to carry the output of the manufactory across to the Wye Valley Railway.

It is possible that some of the wire made here was used in the first trans-Atlantic cable. Display and interpretation boards will shortly be erected, and will illustrate the work done on the site. Included in the illustrations will be a representation of the wire-drawing process, and description of some turbines (no longer in use) which are buried beneath the wireworks car park.



Angiddy Furnace
The furnace produced iron billets using locally available raw materials and water power.

Some of the iron made was supplied to the wireworks. The furnace was constructed in the 17th century, and operated in conjunction with the wireworks until the start of the 19th century.









Brockweir Quay
The quay was extensively refurbished during 2009; vegetation was removed to reveal the cobbles, the lime mortar replaced and large stones re-aligned.

The work had to be done between tides, since the stonework was covered at high water most days. Also work on the stones facing the river had to be done from a boat.

 

Bockweir was the limit of the tidal section, and goods to be taken upriver were transferred to smaller boats, these being dragged by ‘bow hauliers’.

A plaque on a wall shows the bow hauliers in action, though the picture (based on an 18th century original) shows figures too clean to be men who dragged boats through mud.

Brockweir was renowned in those days for its riotous behaviour, and had a reputation as a ‘den of iniquity’.

 

 

Whitestone
Leading from the car park at Whitestone (above Catbrook) is part of the Wye Valley Walk which gives access to several excellent viewpoints of the valley, the track continuing to Cleddon Falls.


Tintern Limekiln
This limekiln was used for making lime by heating limestone from the 1700s onwards. The lime was used in building work for mortar, plaster and limewash, in a variety of industrial processes, and in agriculture as a soil improver.  

Limekilns are a common feature in the Wye Valley because of the availability of limestone, and plentiful supplies of charcoal for fuel.

The kiln is in the centre of the structure. It was filled with limestone from surrounding quarries, and charcoal from the coppiced woodlands. The burning could be continuous, the two tunnels being used alternately. He lime was raked out the holes at the back of the tunnels and left to cool.

Working life for the ‘limeburners‘ was hard, dangerous and very unpleasant. In addition to the physical effort of shovelling tons

of rock, the lime dust caused chemical burns as it settled on their bare skin, moist with perspiration from the heat and hard work. The billowing smoke and fumes also caused lung disease.

This particular limekiln was out of use by 1902.

Dave Edwards


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