Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (Welsh: Sir Fynwy) is a historic county in the south east of Wales, near the English border. It is sometimes known as "Gwent". It is well known for its pastoral scenery and historic towns, such as Monmouth and Tintern, the site of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey.
Cities and towns
Cities
Towns
- Abergavenny
- Blaenavon
- Brynmawr
- Caldicot
- Chepstow
- Cwmbran
- Ebbw Vale
- Monmouth - county town of Monmouthshire
- Pontypool
- Tintern - site of abbey ruins
- Tredegar
- Usk
Other destinations
Understand
Gwent no longer exists as an administrative area, though the name is preserved for certain ceremonial and sporting titles, such as Gwent Police and Royal Gwent Hospital. Currently, the county is divided into the following five administrative districts: Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport, Monmouthshire and Torfaen
Talk
The population of Monmouthshire is overwhelmingly monolingual English, and the county has the lowest percentage (8%) of Welsh speakers in Wales.
Get in
Monmouthshire is well served by the motorway system and can easily be accessed by junctions 23a to 28 of the M4 and junction 2 of the M48. It also lies on the A40/A449 trunk road from the West Midlands and the A465 Heads of the Valleys road between Hereford and the Glamorgan valleys.
The Great Western main railway line passes through the county affording easy access to Cardiff, Swansea and Pembrokeshire in the west and Bristol and London in the east. The Welsh Marches railway line also connects with the Midlands and the rest of Great Britain.
Get around
See
- Tintern Abbey, Tintern, NP16 6SE, ☏ +44 1291 689251. Ruined 12th century Cistercian Abbey
- Tredegar House, Newport. 17th century Charles II country house mansion
- Newport Transporter Bridge, Newport. Grade I listed aerial ferry bridge, one of only eight in the world.
- Caerleon Roman Fortress, Caerleon, NP18 1AE, ☏ +44 1633 422518. Headquarters of the 2nd Legion Augusta in from AD 75. Remains include bath house, barrack blocks and an amphitheatre. Free.
- Big Pit mining museum, Blaenavon. Big Pit was a working coal mine, until closure in 1980. It reopened for visitors in 1983.