128-513: The Port Wall in Chepstow , Monmouthshire , Wales , is a late thirteenth century stone wall, which was constructed for the twin purposes of defence and tax collection by permitting users of the town's market only one point of access through the wall at the Town Gate . The wall originally formed a semi-circle extending for some 1,100 metres (3,600 ft), roughly southwards from Chepstow Castle to
256-569: A Methodist Chapel was built in what is now Oxford Street. St Christopher's church (Anglican), and St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, are both located in the Bulwark area. The town holds a biennial community festival, as well as an annual agricultural show and the annual Wassail and Mari Lwyd in January. There is a local Welsh society for the area, Cymdeithas Cymraeg Cas-gwent, Cil-y-coed a'r cyffiniau , holding numerous Welsh language events throughout
384-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
512-586: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
640-647: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
768-698: A clifftop above the Wye and its bridge , is often cited as the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. The castle was established by William FitzOsbern immediately after the Norman conquest , and was extended in later centuries before becoming ruined after the Civil War . A Benedictine priory was also established within the walled town , which was the centre of the Marcher lordship of Striguil . The port of Chepstow became noted in
896-549: A disciple of St. Dyfrig . This later became an Augustinian priory on what is now Kingsmark Lane, but no traces of it remain. The town is close to the southern point of Offa's Dyke , which begins on the east bank of the Wye at Sedbury and runs all the way to the Irish Sea in north Wales . This was built in the late 8th century as a boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms, although some recent research has questioned whether
1024-674: A distributor of Japanese animated films . Chepstow is primarily a centre for service industries and tourism in South West England and Wales . Due to its very good rail and road links, Chepstow has a large commuter population, commuters travel to larger centres in Bristol and in South Wales. Its location at the southern end of the Wye Valley , together with its own sights including its castle and racecourse, have contributed to its development as
1152-408: A housing estate. In the 2021 census, 45.1% of Chepstow's resident population gave their religion as Christian, with 47.4% stating "no religion". There are several churches in the town. St Mary's Priory Church was founded by about 1072 as a Benedictine priory , and retains its ornamented Norman west entrance doorway, decorated with zig zag and lozenge patterns. The priory was suppressed during
1280-587: A natural valley on the other, afforded an excellent defensive location. A Benedictine priory, now St Mary's Church , was also established nearby. This was the centre of a small religious community, the remains of which are buried under the adjoining car park. Monks , originally from Cormeilles Abbey in Normandy , were there until the Dissolution of the Monasteries . The castle was expanded by William Marshal in
1408-578: A port and trading centre. Its port functions, together with its shipbuilding industry, have now virtually ceased. The industries which developed on the shipyard sites, particularly the fabrication of major engineering structures by the Mabey Group , continued close to the town centre as well as on the Newhouse Farm industrial estate beside the M48 motorway, where wind turbine towers were assembled. In July 2015,
SECTION 10
#17328509842291536-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
1664-486: A tourist centre. The Chepstow Chamber of Commerce represents businesses in the town and aims to support and encourage their development. Blue plaques for English Heritage and other groups are made in the town. Chepstow town centre has over 130 shops within easy walking distance of 1,000 car park spaces. There are 16 hotels, bars and public houses, and 15 restaurants and cafes. The town has Tesco and M&S Foodhall supermarkets, and Screwfix , within or adjoining
1792-491: A walkway along the inside and battlements along the top, and at least 11 outward-facing semi-circular towers, each about 8 metres in diameter. In some stretches there was a dry ditch outside the wall. It is uncertain whether the wall originally extended from the castle wall itself, or from a point across the Dell, a steeply sided valley which forms a natural moat on the south side of the castle. The wall remained wholly intact until it
1920-424: Is Red & White Services Ltd. The nearest major airports to Chepstow are at Bristol (27 miles (43 km)) and Cardiff (43 miles (69 km)). The population of Chepstow at the 2021 census was recorded as roughly 11,900. Of this, 23.4% were between the ages of 45 and 59, above the county average of 22.5%. The largest ethnic group is White with 96.4% of the population, below the county average of 96.9%, with
2048-947: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
2176-756: Is a town and community in Monmouthshire , Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire , England. It is located on the tidal River Wye , about 2 miles (3 km) above its confluence with the River Severn , and adjoining the western end of the Severn Bridge . It is the easternmost settlement in Wales, situated 16 miles (26 km) east of Newport , 28 miles (45 km) east-northeast of Cardiff , 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Bristol and 110 miles (180 km) west of London. Chepstow Castle , situated on
2304-667: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
2432-587: Is located on the edge of the town, in the grounds of the ruined Piercefield House . The racecourse was opened in 1926, and became the regular venue of the Welsh National in 1949. Chepstow Town F.C. was founded in 1878 and as of 2017 play in Division Three of the Welsh Football League . Chepstow RFC was also founded in 1878, by pupils and staff of Chepstow Grammar School. Matches are played at
2560-519: Is served by Chepstow School , located on Welsh Street, with over 1,300 pupils. There are four primary schools in the town: The Dell, Pembroke, Thornwell, and St Mary's Roman Catholic. Tutshill and Sedbury, on the English side of the Wye but within walking distance of Chepstow and attracting some pupils from the town, have their own schools, including Wyedean School , and the private preparatory Dean Close St John's in Tutshill . Chepstow Community Hospital
2688-514: Is serviced by Transport for Wales Rail ; the service provided by CrossCountry from Cardiff Central to Nottingham , via Birmingham New Street . The railway bridge also known as "The Great Tubular Bridge" spanning the River Wye between Chepstow and Sedbury was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1852 as part of the Great Western Railway , but the original structure was replaced in
SECTION 20
#17328509842292816-505: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
2944-704: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
3072-494: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
3200-461: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
3328-546: The Celtic Trail (Lôn Geltaidd) . Chepstow has also held professional and amateur street cycling events, such as the Chepstow Grand Prix. The town's leisure centre is located adjoining Chepstow School. The centre is owned by Monmouthshire County Council . Its facilities include an indoor swimming pool and both indoor and outdoor games pitches. Chepstow Harriers running club, founded in the 1880s, meets twice weekly at
3456-584: The Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, and became the parish church. It was substantially rebuilt during the nineteenth century, and now holds regular services as part of the Church in Wales . The Baptist Church , in Lower Church Street, was built in 1816, by Walter G. Watkin, and later enlarged. The origins of the Methodist Church lie in a visit to the town made by John Wesley in 1762. In 1801,
3584-525: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
3712-491: The Marcher Lordship of Striguil , the town's name deriving from ceape stowe meaning a trading place. The town and its priory were defended by its castle, established in 1067 and reconstructed and extended in stone on several occasions. The port was known for its exports of timber and bark, and its imports of wine from Gascony , Spain and Portugal . Because of its status as a Marcher lordship, dues were levied by
3840-855: The Marriott St Pierre Hotel and Country Club, and the National Diving and Activity Centre at Tidenham . Several long distance trails – the Offa's Dyke Path , the Wye Valley Walk , the Wales Coast Path , and the Gloucestershire Way – pass through, or very close to, the town. Chepstow Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in 1914. The club disappeared in the 1960s. Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
3968-548: The Middle Ages for its imports of wine, and also became a major centre for the export of timber and bark, from nearby woodland in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean . In the late eighteenth century the town was a focus of early tourism as part of the " Wye Tour ", and the tourist industry remains important. Other important industries included shipbuilding – one of the First World War National Shipyards
Chepstow Port Wall - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-564: The Norman conquest of England , Chepstow was a key location. It was at the lowest bridging point of the River Wye, provided a base from which to advance Norman control into south Wales, and controlled river access to Hereford and the Marches . Chepstow Castle was founded by William fitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford , in 1067, and its Great Tower, often cited as the oldest surviving stone fortification in Britain, dates from that time or shortly afterwards. Its site, with sheer cliffs on one side and
4224-727: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
4352-467: The River Wye at Chepstow, built in 1816 to replace earlier wooden structures, carried all the road traffic between South West England and South Wales and was the lowest bridging point of the Wye. The M48 motorway now connects Chepstow by road to Newport (18 miles (29 km)) and Cardiff (31 miles (50 km)) to the west, and Bristol (18 miles (29 km)) and London (124 miles (200 km)) to
4480-532: The River Wye . It enclosed an area of 53 hectares (130 acres), including the entire town and port as it existed at that time. Substantial sections of the wall remain intact, and both the Port Wall and the Town Gate are Grade I listed buildings . The Port Wall is a Scheduled monument . After the Norman conquest of England and parts of south Wales , Chepstow developed as an important port and trading centre within
4608-618: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
4736-513: The Wales Coast Path extending from Wye Crescent, and by the link road from Bulwark Road to the M48, where the looser reddish Mercia Mudstone (which extends under Bulwark and Sedbury and forms the cliffs at the Severn) and the lighter Hunts Bay limestone are also seen. The River Wye at Chepstow has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. The river was established as a boundary between England and Wales by Athelstan in 928. However, after
4864-558: The Welsh to the west, but after the 14th century the castle's importance diminished. The port of Chepstow developed during the mediaeval period, one reason being that its control by a Marcher Lord , rather than by the King , meant that it was exempt from English taxation. It mainly traded in timber and bark from the Wye Valley , and with Bristol . From mediaeval times, Chepstow was the largest port in Wales; its ships sailed as far as Iceland and Turkey, as well as to France and Portugal, and
4992-525: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
5120-589: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
5248-467: The 1960s. Until 1959, passenger trains also operated up the Wye Valley Railway to Monmouth – this service ceased owing to heavy financial losses. The line at Chepstow was blocked by a landslide on 12 November 2009, following heavy rain. Chepstow was home to Red & White Services , one of the region's largest bus and coach operators. Their head office and central workshops were at Bulwark from
Chepstow Port Wall - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-522: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
5504-503: The 2022 local elections, the councillors are four from the Labour party , and two Conservative . The town also has its own Town Council , comprising 15 councillors elected every four years. The council elects a Town Mayor from among its number each year. The Town Mayor for 2022/23 is Cllr Margaret Griffiths. Chepstow was an electoral ward to Gwent County Council between 1973 and 1996. Its first councillor, Barney O'Neill, became leader of
5632-481: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
5760-455: The Avon to that city's centre. Many buildings in the town remain from the late 18th and early 19th centuries; the elegant cast iron bridge across the Wye was opened in 1816 to replace an earlier wooden structure. The town became an important centre for tourism from the late eighteenth century, when the " Wye Tour " became popular. Visitors regularly took boats from Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth down
5888-650: The Chepstow Society, is housed in an elegant 1796 town house opposite the Castle entrance. Chepstow has no dedicated cinema or theatre, although film showings, theatrical and other events regularly take place in the Drill Hall, close to the Castle and riverside area. Chepstow is also home to the Electric Picture Hall, which organises regular 'pop-up' cinema events and a Welsh themed short film festival each year, with
6016-482: The English in earlier centuries. However, the name used by the Normans for the castle and lordship was Striguil (in various spellings, such as Estrighoiel), probably derived from a Welsh word ystraigyl , meaning a bend in the river. The Welsh name Cas-gwent refers to the "castle of Gwent ". The name Gwent itself derives from the Roman settlement Venta Silurum or 'Market of the Silures ', now named Caerwent , 5 miles (8 km) west of Chepstow, which had been
6144-434: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
6272-400: The Norman conquest, areas east of the Wye, within the former Saxon royal manor of Tidenham and including Beachley , Tutshill , Sedbury and Tidenham Chase, were included within the lordship of Striguil or Chepstow. In 1536, the river was confirmed as the boundary between Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. Since the early 19th century, housing development has continued on the east bank of
6400-474: The Romano-British commercial centre of south-east Wales. The oldest site of known habitation at Chepstow is at Thornwell, overlooking the estuaries of the Wye and Severn close to the modern M48 motorway junction, where archaeological investigations in advance of recent housing development revealed continuous human occupation from the Mesolithic period of around 5000 BC until the end of the Roman period, about 400 AD. There are also Iron Age fortified camps in
6528-399: The Town Gate; and, in 1294, for granting to his close associate, John ap Adam of Sedbury , the right to hold a regular market at Chepstow. The Port Wall and Town Gate together ensured that only those paying tolls to the lord could attend the market; and had the additional purpose of keeping out undesirable elements, including the occasionally hostile Welsh people living in the countryside to
SECTION 50
#17328509842296656-417: The Upton Memorial Ground, Lower Western Avenue. As of 2017 the team play in Division Three East A of the WRU National League The town also has an athletic Club for archery (St Kingsmark Bowmen), tennis, bowls, cricket and junior football. The 1976 IAAF World Cross Country Championships , won by Carlos Lopes , were held in the town. Two long routes of the National Cycle Network start in Chepstow, including
6784-432: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
6912-436: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
7040-421: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
7168-445: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
7296-426: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
7424-429: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
7552-524: The area, dating from the time of the Silures , at Bulwark , 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the town centre, and at Piercefield and Lancaut , some 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the north. During the Roman occupation, there was a bridge or causeway across the Wye, about 0.6 miles (0.97 km) upstream of the later town bridge . Chepstow is located at a crossing point directly between the Roman towns at Gloucester ( Glevum ) and Caerwent ( Venta Silurum ). Although historians think it likely that there
7680-401: The area, including Otter Hole , one of the most decorated cave systems in Britain. The climate of the town is affected by its position close to the Severn estuary. The bedrock of Chepstow is limestone, mudstone and sandstone , overlain in places with some gravels and the clay and silt of the river's tidal flats, which are of marine origin and up to two million years old. Most of the rock
7808-405: The built-up area including these villages was 15,600 in 2021. The name Chepstow derives from the Old English ceap/chepe stowe , meaning market place or trading centre. The word "stow" usually denotes a place of special significance, and the root chep is the same as that in other placenames such as Chipping Sodbury and Cheapside . The name is first recorded in 1307, but may have been used by
SECTION 60
#17328509842297936-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
8064-412: The centre in addition to scheduled events. Since its heyday as a centre for the "Wye Tour" in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Chepstow has remained an important centre for tourism. The town has a range of hotels and guest houses. As well as its own attractions, including the castle, the town is close to other attractions including the Royal Forest of Dean , Tintern Abbey and the Wye Valley ,
8192-403: The cities of Bristol , Newport and Cardiff means it has a large number of commuters. It is administered as part of Monmouthshire County Council , and is within the Monmouth UK parliamentary constituency and Senedd constituency . Chepstow is on the western bank of the Wye, while adjoining villages on the eastern bank of the river, Tutshill and Sedbury , are in England. The population of
8320-417: The company announced that the site was to close with the loss of 125 jobs, following the decision by the UK government to end subsidies for onshore wind generation. Other local industries have included the material for artificial ski slopes , developed at the "Dendix" brush factory, which in its time was a producer of all sizes of industrial brushes. The works, now operated by Osborn-Unipol, relocated out of
8448-422: The control of a Local Board from 1864, and an urban district council was formed in 1894. Chepstow Urban District Council was abolished in 1974, when many of its functions were taken over by the new Monmouth District Council . This was renamed Monmouth Borough Council in 1988, and formed one of the five districts of Gwent until both authorities were abolished in 1996. The town's representation in Parliament
8576-417: The council in 1974. Chepstow was granted a town charter in 1524 by its Marcher Lord, Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester . After the county of Monmouth was formed, Chepstow was included within the Hundred of Caldicot in 1542. A Corporation of bailiffs and burgesses controlled the town until the time of Charles II , when its charter lapsed, apparently as a result of a dispute. The town came under
8704-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
8832-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
8960-422: The current member is David Davies , first elected in 2005. In elections for the Senedd , the town is part of the Monmouth constituency ; the current MS is Peter Fox (Conservative). Until January 2020 Chepstow was within the Wales constituency for the European Parliament . The Laws in Wales Acts created an anomaly in that, although Monmouthshire was noted as being in the 'Country or Dominion of Wales', it
9088-410: The dark side of Morris dancing. We’re the punk rockers of the morris world. We are drinkers with a dance problem." Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Cymru Wales and BBC West on BBC One , and by ITV Cymru Wales and ITV West Country on ITV1 . Television signals are from either the Wenvoe TV transmitter, supplemented by a low power relay transmitter situated north east of
9216-428: The death of his uncle . Bigod undertook a substantial building programme within and around Chepstow, including, at the castle, a new range of buildings for accommodation for himself and his family, and a massive new defensive tower (now known as "Marten's Tower"); and also, a few miles to the north, the rebuilding of Tintern Abbey . He was also responsible for the building of the Port Wall, usually dated at 1274–78, and
9344-470: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
9472-481: The early 1930s to mid-1980s. Red & White was a major employer in Chepstow for the fifty years it existed. The company became defunct as part of the privatised National Welsh bus company but was re-established as Stagecoach Red & White following the acquisition of the assets of National Welsh by Stagecoach . Although the name Stagecoach Red and White was subsequently dropped, the legal name of Stagecoach South Wales
9600-672: The early 19th century, as Cardiff, Newport and Swansea became more suitable for handling the bulk export of coal and steel from the Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire valleys. However, shipbuilding was briefly revived when the National Shipyard No.1 was established during the First World War and for a short period afterwards, when the first prefabricated ships, including the War Glory , were constructed there. The influx of labour for
9728-568: The east. To the north, the A466 up the Wye valley connects the town with Monmouth (16 miles (26 km)), and to the north-east the A48 links it with Gloucester (29 miles (47 km)). Chepstow railway station is on the main line between Maesteg and Cheltenham Spa . Most connections to Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington are via Newport or Severn Tunnel Junction (8 miles (13 km)). Chepstow
9856-485: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
9984-463: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
10112-469: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
10240-451: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
10368-587: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
10496-496: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
10624-546: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
10752-495: The late twelfth century and, a century later, by Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk . Bigod was also responsible for establishing a weekly market and annual fair, in the town which had grown up on the slopes between the castle and priory, and for building the Port Wall around it shortly after 1274. A toll gate controlled entry to the market area; this Town Gate was rebuilt in the 16th century. The town faced some hostile attacks from
10880-459: The local lord, outside any direct control by the English crown . It has been suggested, but not confirmed, that the priory, castle and river crossing may originally have been defended by earthworks in a line some way to the east of the later stone wall, and that the market place initially grew up outside that line. In 1270 the lordship came under the control of Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk , after
11008-489: The long-term goal of establishing a dedicated cinema and art space for the town. Group community activities also take place in the Palmer Community Centre and Bulwark Community Centre. The town had, for a short period, its own online local radio station, Chepstow Radio. Chepstow is twinned with Cormeilles , France . The town is the base for The Widders Border Morris Men who were formed in 2001. Some of
11136-504: The many mills on the tributaries of the Wye. An important aspect of Chepstow's trade was entrepôt trade: bringing larger cargoes into the manageable deep water of the Wye on high tide and breaking down the load for on-shipment in the many trows up the Wye to Hereford past the coin stamping mill at Redbrook, or up the Severn to Gloucester and beyond. Chepstow also traded across the estuary to Bristol on suitable tides to work vessels up and down
11264-458: The members were bikers who coined the group's name, claiming they looked like the 'Black Widows', a bike gang from film Every Which Way but Loose . In 2010 the team were invited to represent Wales in a Celtic music festival in France. The black, skull-like face-paint, used by the team members, was originally used to mask identities. The team's foreman Mick Widder has described the group: "We’re from
11392-610: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
11520-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
11648-464: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
11776-534: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
11904-484: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
12032-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
12160-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
12288-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
12416-527: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
12544-399: The river has also been landscaped in association with a flood defence scheme. Chepstow is located on the west bank of the River Wye, some 3 miles (4.8 km) north of its confluence with the Severn estuary. To the north of the town, the Wye passes through a limestone gorge, and there are limestone cliffs at Chepstow both north and south of the town centre and on the opposite (east) side of
12672-480: The river opposite Chepstow, at Tutshill and Sedbury. Those areas, though located in England rather than Wales, are now effectively suburbs of the town. Chepstow is administered by Monmouthshire County Council , one of the 22 unitary local authorities in Wales formed in 1996. As of 2022, the town elects six county councillors, for the wards of Bulwark and Thornwell (2 members); Chepstow Castle and Larkfield (2 members); Mount Pleasant; and St Kingsmark. Following
12800-565: The river, visiting, drawing and painting the " picturesque " views of the area, which included those of Tintern Abbey , Piercefield House , and the ruined Chepstow Castle . In the 19th century a shipbuilding industry developed, and the town was also known for the production of clocks, bells, and grindstones. In 1840 leaders of the Chartist insurrection in Newport were transported from Chepstow to Van Diemen's Land . The port's trade declined after
12928-465: The river. The town is overlooked by the inland cliffs at Wyndcliff near St Arvans , about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town, and, from parts of the town, the Severn estuary and its bridges can be seen. The historic centre of Chepstow occupies part of a bend in the River Wye, and slopes up from the river to the town centre and beyond. As well as cliffs used for rock climbing, percolation of acidic groundwater has dissolved limestone to produce caves in
13056-494: The second largest being Asian/Asian British who make up 1.1% of the population, below the county average of 1.3%. The largest religious group is No religion with 47.4% of the population, above the county average of 43.4%, with the second largest being Christian at 45.1%, below the county average of 48.7%. According to the 2021 census, 9.4% of Chepstow residents could speak, read or write Welsh , 2% could understand spoken Welsh only and 88.6% had no skills in Welsh at all. The town
13184-627: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
13312-461: The shipyards, from 1917, led to the start of " garden suburb " housing development at Hardwick (now known locally as "Garden City") and Bulwark . The shipyard itself became a works for fabricating major engineering structures. From 1938, Chepstow housed the head office of the Red & White bus company, on Bulwark Road. New housing development in the twentieth century took place to the north and south of
13440-504: The stretch near Chepstow formed part of the original Dyke. It is possible, though not clearly substantiated, that Chepstow may have superseded Caerwent as a trading centre, and been used by both Saxons and the Welsh. The Lancaut and Beachley peninsulas, opposite Chepstow, were in Welsh rather than Mercian control at that time, although by the time of the Domesday Book Striguil was assessed as part of Gloucestershire. After
13568-518: The town centre to a new site beside the motorway in 2011. There are smaller industrial estates in Bulwark, and close to the town's railway station, and the Newhouse Farm industrial estate is also a major distribution centre. Other notable locally based businesses have included Architen Landrell, a manufacturer of tensile architectural structures , whose closure was announced in December 2015; and MVM Films ,
13696-593: The town centre, and more recently beyond the A466 road to the west of the town. The town developed rapidly after the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, which replaced the car ferry between Beachley and Aust and allowed easier commuting between Chepstow and larger centres including Bristol and Cardiff. Over £2 million was invested in regenerating the town centre in 2004–05. This scheme, which includes sculptures and other public art , encountered some local criticism over its high cost, but gained several national awards reflecting its high design quality. The area beside
13824-616: The town centre, together with a Lidl store at Bulwark and a B & M store close to the motorway junction at Thornwell. The town has one bank and many independent cafes and restaurants. It also has several independent shops, though the family-run department store, Herbert Lewis, closed in 2018 after 140 years. National chains represented include W.H. Smith , Peacocks , Boots , Superdrug , and Poundland . The pedestrianised St Mary's Street contains antique shops, gift shops, an independent book shop, coffee shops and restaurants. There are also regular farmers' markets and produce markets in
13952-518: The town centre. A regular open air weekly market at the racecourse closed in 2014. The town's livestock market closed in the early 1960s. According to the 2001 Census, Chepstow had relatively high proportions of its population working in the retail and wholesale sectors of the economy (19.6%, compared with 16.3% for Wales as a whole), property services (11.3%, compared with 8.5% across Wales), and transport and communications (9.4% compared with 5.5% across Wales). The proportion working in manufacturing
14080-534: The town was known for its imports of wine . Chepstow was given its first charter in 1524, by Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester , and became part of Monmouthshire when the county was formed. The town appears as "Strigulia", "Chepstowe" and "Castelh Gwent" on the Cambriae Typus map of 1573. The castle and town changed hands several times during the English Civil War , and the regicide Henry Marten
14208-478: The town, or the Mendip TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Wales , BBC Radio Cymru , BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Gloucestershire both can also be heard, Heart South Wales , Nation Radio Wales and Sunshine Radio . The town is served by the local newspapers, Chepstow Beacon and South Wales Argus Chepstow Racecourse is the leading horse racing facility and course in Wales. It
14336-518: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
14464-458: The wall, pedestrian access to their school. Gaps in the wall were later opened to give vehicle access to the main town car park at Welsh Street in the 1960s, and for a new relief road ( A48 ) in the early 1970s. The Port Wall was given Grade I Listed Building status on 24 March 1975. 51°38′25″N 2°40′33″W / 51.640153°N 2.67571°W / 51.640153; -2.67571 Chepstow Chepstow ( Welsh : Cas-gwent )
14592-419: The west of the town. Much of the land within the walls was never built on, but was used as pasture, orchards and gardens, with wharves and shipyards on the river. The wall is, on average, about 5 metres (16 ft) high and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) thick. It was built without any substantial foundations, and is faced with roughly squared blocks of stone ashlar and filled with rubble. It originally had
14720-452: The year that are open to all. In the early 2000s the community organised major son et lumière pageants covering aspects of local history, using local residents under professional direction. Since 2012, an annual series of "Castell Roc" music events has been held inside Chepstow Castle each August, featuring performances by artists such as Leo Sayer , Dr Hook , Bad Manners , and Jools Holland . The Chepstow Museum , first established by
14848-439: Was a small Roman fort in the area, the only evidence found so far has been of Roman material and burials, rather than buildings. After the Romans left, Chepstow was within the southern part of the Welsh kingdom of Gwent , known as Gwent Is-coed (i.e. Gwent this side of the woods ). To the north of the modern town centre, a small church was established dedicated to St. Cynfarch (alternatively Cynmarch, Kynemark or Kingsmark),
14976-587: Was as part of the county of Monmouth seat, from 1536. Between 1885 and 1918 it formed part of the South Monmouthshire constituency, and since then has been within the Monmouth county constituency . The town has remained within the Monmouth constituency in subsequent elections, although the constituency boundary has changed several times. The constituency has returned a Conservative MP at most recent elections;
15104-505: Was breached in 1846 to allow the construction of the railway line between Chepstow and Newport . The stretch of wall running south of the railway line to the river was then demolished in 1916 for the development of the National Shipyard No.1 during the First World War , and a further gap was opened up in the wall shortly afterwards to enable the children of shipyard workers in the newly built Hardwick Garden City estate, just outside
15232-608: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
15360-620: Was declared by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage to be the first "Plastic Free Town" in south Wales. Chepstow is located close to junction 2 of the M48 motorway , at the western end of the Severn Bridge . The bridge was opened in 1966 and has the second longest span of any bridge in the UK; it replaced the Aust-Beachley ferry . Before the Severn Bridge was opened, the Old Wye Bridge across
15488-425: Was established in the town – and heavy engineering, including the prefabrication of bridges and wind turbine towers. Chepstow is also well known for its racecourse , which has hosted the Welsh National each year since 1949. The town had a population of 12,350 at the 2011 census, decreasing to 11,900 (rounded to the nearest 100) at the 2021 census . It is served by the M48 motorway , and its accessibility to
15616-489: Was later imprisoned and died in the castle. The port continued to flourish; during the period 1790 to 1795, records show a greater tonnage of goods handled than Swansea , Cardiff and Newport combined. Chepstow reached the peak of its importance during the Napoleonic Wars , when its exports of timber, for ships, and bark, for leather tanning , were especially vital. There were also exports of wire and paper , made in
15744-483: Was lower than the average (15.2% compared with 17.3% across Wales), as was the proportion working in health and social work (9.3% compared to 13.0% across Wales). In terms of occupational groups, the proportions of residents in higher status managerial, professional and associate technical posts was higher than average (totalling 44.1% compared with 35.4% across Wales), and the proportions in administrative, personal services and processing work were lower. In 2018 Chepstow
15872-578: Was made directly responsible to the courts of Westminster rather than falling under the Court of Great Sessions in Wales . Most legislation for Wales was applied to it using the phrase "Wales and Monmouthshire", and the issue of whether Monmouthshire should be considered as part of Wales for administrative purposes was finally clarified in law by the Local Government Act 1972 which incorporated it within Wales. Chepstow developed from mediaeval times as
16000-507: Was opened in 2000, having been developed under the United Kingdom Government's Private Finance Initiative . It was built and is operated by Kintra Ltd, at an annual charge of £1.2m to Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust . The hospital building incorporates mementoes from the past, including the old Admiralty portico moulding from the front facade of the former Mount Pleasant Hospital, which was located on an adjacent site now developed as
16128-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
16256-505: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
16384-460: Was produced in a warm, tropical marine environment, when Europe was closer to the equator. The rock of Sedbury cliffs and those under Chepstow Castle are Carboniferous Limestone , hundreds of metres thick in the area, made of particles and shells of sea creatures from 330 to 360 million years ago. Layered outcrops of darker Black Rock Limestone, which makes up a broad part of Chepstow's bedrock, are very clear in cliffs along Craig yr Afon, part of
#228771