Beachley
Encyclopedia
Beachley is a village in Gloucestershire
, England
, near the border with Wales
. It is located on a peninsula
at the junction between the Rivers Wye
and Severn
, where the Severn Bridge
ends and the smaller secondary bridge for the River Wye
begins. The tidal drop here is one of the highest in the UK. Before the construction of the bridge it was a ferry
port
from where the Beachley Ferry to Aust
operated until 1966.
kingdom of Gwent. A small chapel was founded at what was then the southernmost point of the peninsula - now a tidal island known as Chapel Rock - traditionally in the 4th century by Tecla, a princess of Gwynedd
who retired there as a hermit before being murdered by raiders from the sea. A chapel dedicated to St Twrog, perhaps containing a navigation light, was later built on the rock but was ruined before the 18th century.
Offa's Dyke
, built by the Mercians in the 8th century, cuts off the peninsula to the north. In 956, Beachley was part of lands granted by King Edwy to Bath Abbey
. According to historians interpreting the writings of Walter Map
, it is likely that Beachley was the site of an unprecedented meeting around 1056 between the unchallenged ruler of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
, and the king of England
, Edward the Confessor
, to establish each one's areas of control.
The crossing of the Severn estuary
between Beachley and Aust
was probably in use from antiquity and was long the chief route between England and south Wales. It was recorded in the 12th century when the de Clare
s, lords of Tidenham
, granted quittance of the passage to the monks of Tintern
, and was evidently much used in 1405 when great numbers of the English and Welsh were said to resort to the nearby chapel of St Twrog. The manor of Tidenham retained rights over the passage, and received rents from the parishes of Aust and Beachley, until the 19th century.
Beachley was the site of fighting in the Civil War
. It was garrisoned by Royalists under Sir John Wintour, but was overrun in October 1644 by Parliamentary forces under Col. Edward Massey
.
St John's Church was built in 1833 by Bristol
architects Foster and Okely. Its cost was borne largely by James Jenkins, the owner of Beachley Manor. In the 1850s the rector was Rev. G.W. Bridges
, an early photographer.
, the government requisitioned a large area of land at Beachley with the intention of making a camp for manufacturing armaments. However, the war ended before production had begun. Instead, in 1924 it was decided to establish a British Army Army Apprentices School
(which in 1966 was renamed as an Army Apprentices College
) at Beachley to ensure a core of technical qualified soldiers with excellent technical education combined with first class military training as potential NCO
s and officers mainly for the specialist corps Royal Engineers
, REME
Plant Operator mechanics and RAOC
. The college was situated on Beachley Point between the River Severn and the River Wye. The army has now converted this to an infantry barracks. After the recent reorganisation of the Army, "Future Army Structures" and "Future Infantry Structures" this is now the permanent home of the First Battalion The Rifles
.
, whose lifeboat
station is next to the slipway. SARA has been running for over 30 years and it is believed to be the second largest UK
lifeboat association (the first being the RNLI). SARA is staffed entirely by volunteers.
The Aust Severn Powerline Crossing
runs over the river at Beachley to Aust. A tunnel also runs under the River Severn
between Beachley and Aust
carrying electric cables.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, near the border with Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is located on a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
at the junction between the Rivers Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
and Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
, where the Severn Bridge
Severn Bridge
The Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
ends and the smaller secondary bridge for the River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
begins. The tidal drop here is one of the highest in the UK. Before the construction of the bridge it was a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
from where the Beachley Ferry to Aust
Aust
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, the historical site of the eastern terminal of the Aust Ferry crossing route over the River Severn between England and Wales, believed to have been used in Roman times as a continuation of Icknield Street which led from Eastern England...
operated until 1966.
History
Before the 9th century, the Beachley peninsula and the mouth of the Wye were part of the WelshWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
kingdom of Gwent. A small chapel was founded at what was then the southernmost point of the peninsula - now a tidal island known as Chapel Rock - traditionally in the 4th century by Tecla, a princess of Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
who retired there as a hermit before being murdered by raiders from the sea. A chapel dedicated to St Twrog, perhaps containing a navigation light, was later built on the rock but was ruined before the 18th century.
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
, built by the Mercians in the 8th century, cuts off the peninsula to the north. In 956, Beachley was part of lands granted by King Edwy to Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England...
. According to historians interpreting the writings of Walter Map
Walter Map
Walter Map was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium.-Life:...
, it is likely that Beachley was the site of an unprecedented meeting around 1056 between the unchallenged ruler of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the ruler of all Wales from 1055 until his death, the only Welsh monarch able to make this boast...
, and the king of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, to establish each one's areas of control.
The crossing of the Severn estuary
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary is the estuary of the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain. Its high tidal range means it has been at the centre of discussions in the UK regarding renewable energy.-Geography:...
between Beachley and Aust
Aust
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, the historical site of the eastern terminal of the Aust Ferry crossing route over the River Severn between England and Wales, believed to have been used in Roman times as a continuation of Icknield Street which led from Eastern England...
was probably in use from antiquity and was long the chief route between England and south Wales. It was recorded in the 12th century when the de Clare
De Clare
The de Clare family of Norman lords were associated with the Welsh Marches, Suffolk, Surrey, Kent and Ireland. They were descended from Richard fitz Gilbert, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England during the Norman conquest of England.-Origins:The Clare family descends from Gilbert...
s, lords of Tidenham
Tidenham
Tidenham is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border.The parish includes the villages of Tidenham, Beachley, Boughspring, Sedbury, Tutshill and Woodcroft, and according to the United Kingdom Census 2001 had a population of 5,316...
, granted quittance of the passage to the monks of Tintern
Tintern
Tintern is a village on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about 5 miles north of Chepstow...
, and was evidently much used in 1405 when great numbers of the English and Welsh were said to resort to the nearby chapel of St Twrog. The manor of Tidenham retained rights over the passage, and received rents from the parishes of Aust and Beachley, until the 19th century.
Beachley was the site of fighting in the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. It was garrisoned by Royalists under Sir John Wintour, but was overrun in October 1644 by Parliamentary forces under Col. Edward Massey
Edward Massie
Sir Edward Massie , English Parliamentary soldier in the English Civil War, was the son of John Massie of Coddington, Cheshire.-Life:...
.
St John's Church was built in 1833 by Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
architects Foster and Okely. Its cost was borne largely by James Jenkins, the owner of Beachley Manor. In the 1850s the rector was Rev. G.W. Bridges
George Wilson Bridges
Reverend George Wilson Bridges was a writer, photographer and Anglican cleric. After eloping with his wife, he was rector for the Jamaican parish of Manchester from 1817 to 1823. He was then rector at the neighbouring parish of St Ann from 1823 to 1837...
, an early photographer.
Army Apprentices College
In 1915, during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the government requisitioned a large area of land at Beachley with the intention of making a camp for manufacturing armaments. However, the war ended before production had begun. Instead, in 1924 it was decided to establish a British Army Army Apprentices School
Army Apprentices College
The Army Apprentices College was a college system in the United Kingdom that offered military training, education and common core skills, leadership and adventurous training, character development, trade training.-Name changes:...
(which in 1966 was renamed as an Army Apprentices College
Army Apprentices College
The Army Apprentices College was a college system in the United Kingdom that offered military training, education and common core skills, leadership and adventurous training, character development, trade training.-Name changes:...
) at Beachley to ensure a core of technical qualified soldiers with excellent technical education combined with first class military training as potential NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s and officers mainly for the specialist corps Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, REME
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...
Plant Operator mechanics and RAOC
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
The Royal Army Ordnance Corps was a corps of the British Army. It dealt only with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment until 1965, when it took over most other supply functions, as well as the provision of staff clerks, from the Royal Army Service...
. The college was situated on Beachley Point between the River Severn and the River Wye. The army has now converted this to an infantry barracks. After the recent reorganisation of the Army, "Future Army Structures" and "Future Infantry Structures" this is now the permanent home of the First Battalion The Rifles
The Rifles
The Rifles is the largest regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of five regular and two territorial battalions, plus a number of companies in other TA battalions, Each battalion of the Rifles was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the Light...
.
Amenities
The old ferry slipway is now used by the Severn Area Rescue AssociationSevern Area Rescue Association
The Severn Area Rescue Association aka SARA or Severn Rescue is an Inshore Rescue boat and Land Search organisation covering the Severn Estuary and upper reaches of the River Severn. SARA is the largest independent lifeboat service in the UK, second only to the RNLI, with 12 operational boats and...
, whose lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
station is next to the slipway. SARA has been running for over 30 years and it is believed to be the second largest UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
lifeboat association (the first being the RNLI). SARA is staffed entirely by volunteers.
The Aust Severn Powerline Crossing
Aust Severn Powerline Crossing
Aust Severn Powerline Crossing is the longest powerline span in the United Kingdom with a span width of 1,618 m .The crossing, which spans the River Severn between Aust and Beachley, is part of the National Grid. It was built by J L Eve & Co and is situated south of Severn Bridge. It is...
runs over the river at Beachley to Aust. A tunnel also runs under the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
between Beachley and Aust
Aust
Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, the historical site of the eastern terminal of the Aust Ferry crossing route over the River Severn between England and Wales, believed to have been used in Roman times as a continuation of Icknield Street which led from Eastern England...
carrying electric cables.