Sedbury is a village in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

district of west

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. It is located on the eastern bank of the

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

, facing the town of

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

. The village is in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Tidenham Tidenham () is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean (district), Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Wales, Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west ...

. It had a population of 3,535. Nearby are the villages of Tutshill, Woodcroft and

Beachley Beachley is a village in Gloucestershire, England, near the border with Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the rivers River Wye, Wye and River Severn, Severn, where the Severn Bridge ends and the smaller seco ...

History

Sedbury is located on the eastern (English) side of the southern end of

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...

, a defensive ditch and dyke built in the late 8th century by

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

King

Offa Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

to mark the border with Wales. After the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the manor of Tidenham, which included Sedbury, fell within the lordship of Striguil, or

. It was transferred to

following the abolition of the

Marcher lord A marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...

ships through the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542. Until the early 19th century, Sedbury was usually known as Sudbury, a name derived from "south fortification", referring either to Offa's Dyke or a Roman settlement in Sedbury Park. The development of the village began during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when a

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, ...

of concrete huts was built north of the main road at what is now Grahamstown Road. Later, huts were built for

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

working to establish the National Shipyard at

, and houses were constructed at Pennsylvania Farm (now Mercian Way). Development in the mid-20th century included more housing, shops, a pub and schools close to the main road. Further development was proposed in 2013. Until the opening of the

Severn Bridge The Severn Bridge () is a Controlled-access highway, motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn crossing, Severn road crossi ...

nearby in 1966,

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

crossed the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...

between the villages of Beachley and

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

Sedbury Park

Sedbury House is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Georgian building designed by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

.Sedbury House
/ref> The surrounding estate was established, as Barnesville, around 1800 by Sir Henry Cosby. In 1825 it was bought by the historian and antiquary George Ormerod, who renamed it Sedbury Park, and commissioned Smirke to add classical colonnades and a portico to the existing house.Tidenham at British History Online
/ref> Ormerod's youngest daughter, Eleanor Anne Ormerod, was born there in 1828, later becoming a renowned

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. The estates were bought by the businessman and politician Samuel Marling in 1875, and his son Sir William Henry Marling made major alterations to the house around 1898. The estate included 25 farms in Tidenham,

Hewelsfield Hewelsfield is a village in Hewelsfield and Brockweir civil parish, in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is located 6 miles south of Coleford and 5 miles north-east of Chepstow, close to the Wye valley and ...

and Woolaston. The house was the home of Colonel Sir Percival Marling, V.C., before he sold it in 1921. It then became a hotel, and an approved school in 1942, before being converted to a residential nursing home. In the 1930s many of the fittings and furnishings were removed from Sedbury House to the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

home of Leslie Cheek, heir to the

Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the Ma ...

coffee empire. The stable block and carriage house have been converted into residential properties. Sedbury House: The Belfry
/ref>

Amenities

Sedbury is the location of Wyedean School, one of the schools attended by author

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

, and Offa's Mead Academy. At the top of Sedbury Cliff overlooking the

is one end of the

Offa's Dyke Path Offa's Dyke Path () is a long-distance footpath loosely following the Wales–England border. Officially opened on 10 July 1971, by John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Lord Hunt, it is one of Britain's National Trails and draws hillwalking, walkers from th ...

, a waymarked

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

and

National Trail National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government, and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government, Welsh ...

, stretching to

Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

, close to the Wales-England border.

References

External links

Photos of Sedbury and surrounding area on Geograph
{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Tidenham Chepstow