| Wentwood | |
|---|---|
 Wentwood reservoir and hills seen from Gray Hill | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 309 m (1,014 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 243 m (797 ft)[1] |
| Listing | Marilyn,council top (Newport) |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Location | Newport /Monmouthshire,Wales, United Kingdom |
| OS grid | ST411942 |
Wentwood (Welsh:Coed Gwent), inMonmouthshire,South Wales, is a forested area of hills, rising to 1,014 feet (309 m) above sea level. It is located to the northeast of, and partly within the boundaries of, the city ofNewport.
Wentwood is underlain bysandstones which are assigned to theBrownstones Formation of theOld Red Sandstone, a suite ofsedimentary rocks laid down during theDevonian period. Thebeds dip gently to moderately in a south-easterly direction. It is the southernmost part of a range of hills formed by the relatively hard-wearing Brownstones sandstones which stretch in a rough arc northwards through easternMonmouthshire, the broadly west-facingscarps of which are generally well wooded.[2]
There is a small number of houses in Wentwood, known as Wentwood hamlet. Gilgal Chapel is a restored church in Wentwood.[3][4]
Wentwood Village
| |
|---|---|
  Wentwood Village Location withinNewport | |
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NEWPORT |
| Postcode district | NP18 2 |
| Dialling code | 01633 Llanwern and Penhow exchanges |
| Police | Gwent |
| Fire | South Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°37′55″N2°49′40″W / 51.631899°N 2.827669°W /51.631899; -2.827669 | |
It is the largestancient woodland in Wales and the ninth largest in the UK. The current wooded area is a remnant of a much larger ancient forest which once extended between the riversUsk andWye and which divided the oldkingdom of Gwent into two –Gwent Uwchcoed andIscoed, that is, above and below the wood.
The area containsBronze Age burial mounds, astone circle, and amegalithic alignment onGray Hill, Monmouthshire.
In theMiddle Ages, the woods belonged to the lordship ofChepstow and provided hunting preserves, and timber, fuel and pasturage for the tenants of nearbymanors. The Royal Forest of Wentwood had its own forest laws and courts were held twice yearly at Forester's Oaks, above Wentwood Reservoir.
These courts tried luckless locals charged with a range of crimes within the forest boundaries, from sheep stealing to poachingdeer. These crimes were taken so seriously that culprits were hanged from one of the two Forester's Oaks. The last offender dealt with in this severe way was hanged as recently as 1829.
The edges of the wood were gradually cleared and felled away in the 16th century and 17th century by farmers. In 1678 Wentwood was the scene of riots led byNathan Rogers andEdward Kemys against the actions ofHenry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort who, asLord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire and Governor ofChepstow Castle,enclosed some 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of the forest for his own use, and began to fell trees for use in hisironworks atTintern. The tenants of the area, including Rogers, claimed that the ancient rights to the forest belonged to them, and rioted when 50 of Somerset's armed men arrived to carry away the felled wood.[5][6]
Many stands of substantial matureWelsh Oaks were felled to meet the demand for stout oak heartwoods inRoyal Navy battleships andmen o' war of theNapoleonic era of the 19th century, such asHMS Victory and others, but the heart of the forest remained preserved forcharcoal production, a necessity for the iron industry and localironworks. Henry Somerset sold 2,244 trees in Wentwood Forest, described as "the largest wood in England", in May 1902.[7]
The firstconifer plantations were planted at Wentwood in 1880, and most of the native trees were felled duringWorld War I to provide timber for props and supports for the trenches. When the area was replanted by theForestry Commission in the 1950s and 1960s, the original broadleaveddeciduous trees were largely replaced with non-nativeconifers, damaging the woodland habitat. More recently, broadleaved trees have been allowed to grow back.[citation needed]
Wentwood and its surrounding areas are popular withhillwalking andmountain biking enthusiasts and the Wentwood Reservoir, opened in 1904, was a centre fortrout fishing prior to being drained in 2019 for refurbishment works by utility company Dŵyr Cymru (Welsh Water).[8] The reservoir is slowly being refilled by natural water capture, which is expected to take around 12 months.[9] The area is also home to thousands of wildlife species. These include 75 species of bird, includingturtle doves,nightjars andspotted flycatchers;dormice;Eurasian otters;pipistrelle bats; and ancient woodland plants, such as wilddaffodil,wood sorrel, andyellow pimpernel.
In 2006, theWoodland Trust completed the purchase of some 352 hectares (nearly 900 acres) of Wentwood after a high-profile campaign, and plans a programme of conservation and restoration.
In April 2007, an illegalrave event took place in Wentwood, with around 3,000 people before it was broken up.[10]
Vehicle access to much of the site is restricted, to protect the ancient monuments. Despite this, off-road vehicles have regularly caused problems, culminating in damage to one of the prehistoric burial mounds over the Christmas holidays of 2019.[11][12]
