The Tintern Wireworks Branch was a short branch line on the

Wye Valley Railway The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and w ...

, crossing the tidal

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 ...

between

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 ...

, Wales, and

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 was completed in 1874 and opened on 1 November 1876; the reason for the delay was that the Wye Valley Railway, into which the branch line fed, was not completed until the latter date. It closed in 1935 when the rails buckled in the heat of the summer.B. M. Handley and R. Dingwall, ''The Wye Valley Railway and the Coleford Branch'', 1982, The bridge that carried the line over the Wye, known as the Tintern Wireworks Bridge or Old Tramway Bridge, is now used as a footpath.

History

Wye Valley Amendment Act

In 1866 the

Company announced that it would not build a line through the village of

Tintern Tintern () is a village in the community (Wales), community of Wye Valley (community), Wye Valley, on the west bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, about north of Chepstow. It is popular with tourist ...

, but by-pass it. To make up for this the company was forced to build a branch to the wireworks on the other side of Tintern. The Wye Valley Amendment Act was passed on 14 June 1875 stating that ''the company would forever maintain the branch and junction in good repair''; as well as setting the regulations on running the line. The line was designed out by the engineering firm, S. H. Yockney, of London, and the construction works were carried out by the Isca Foundry Co. of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Abbey Wire and Tinplate Company

By August 1875, before the opening of the branch, the Abbey Wireworks Company had stopped trading. The line remained practically empty until the early 1880s when the works were taken over by the Abbey Wire and Tinplate Company; this venture was short lived and the works closed in 1901. The privately owned locomotive was sold and from then on the branch was only used by horses for the sawmills and turnery works in the village.

Closure

The line closed in 1935. Most of the tracks were lifted in 1941 and sent for scrap. The junction with the Wye Valley Railway was lifted in 1945 and was the last part of the branch to be lifted. The weigh house on the line survived until the late 1970s.

Tintern Wireworks Bridge

The bridge carrying the branch over the Wye today carries a public footpath. It is known as the Tintern Wireworks Bridge or the Old Tramway Bridge. John Newman, in his ''Gwent/Monmouthshire'' volume of the Pevsner Buildings of Wales, notes the bridge's "three steel-truss spans on two high, rock-faced,

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

."John Newman, ''Gwent/Monmouthshire'', The Buildings of Wales, 2000, Penguin, page 557,

Heritage status

The bridge is a

Grade II listed structure 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, Hi ...

and has two listings, as is often the case with bridges that cross county borders; in this case, a Welsh designation by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

for the section in Monmouthshire, and an English designation by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

for the section in Gloucestershire.

Restoration in 2022/23

An assessment of the bridge undertaken in 2021 by

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social servi ...

found its condition to be unsafe due to severe

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

, and the bridge was closed to all vehicular traffic in October 2021. A one-year restoration, costing £1.5M, began in 2022. The bridge was closed to all traffic, including pedestrians, from late June 2022. The restoration work included removal of the timber deck and its replacement with a steel deck; strengthening of the structure, including the installation of new box beams; grit blasting and painting; and repointing the masonry supports. The bridge re-opened at the end of May 2023.

In popular culture

The bridge featured as a setting in Episode 1.2 of the 2019

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

comedy drama series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

Information about the Wye Valley Railway
{{coord, 51.6994, -2.6813, region:GB-MON_type:landmark, display=title Industrial railways in Wales Transport in Monmouthshire History of Monmouthshire Closed railway lines in Wales Railway lines opened in 1876 Railway lines closed in 1935 Standard gauge railways in Wales