History
The village, once known as 'Ledenia Parva' (Little Lydney), is sheltered behind the crumbling walls of its 12th century moated Norman castle, which was garrisoned by Miles de Gloucester for King Henry I as early as 1130. The castle was later granted to him with the Forest of Dean in July 1141 when he was made Earl of Hereford.
St Briavels Castle has been a Norman fortress, a Royal castle and hunting lodge of King John of England and also visited by Henry II, who made the castle the administrative and judicial centre for the Forest of Dean. It has also been a prison, a school and a private house, but today it is a youth hostel.
Little is known about the origin of St Briavels. The name is thought to be from a much-travelled early Christian missionary, Brioc, whose name also appears in places as far afield as Cornwall and Brittany.
Later King Offa of Mercia built Offa's Dyke from the mouth of the River Wye near Chepstow to Chester and local remains can still be seen in the nearby Hudnalls Wood. The Normans thought it an ideal site for one of the many castles built from Chepstow to Chester to check the intrusion of the warlike Welsh tribesmen from the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent into the more peaceful areas east of the Severn and Wye rivers. At Windward, the highest point in the parish, the land rises to 800 feet (240 m) above sea level; the castle itself is somewhat lower at 600 feet (180 m) and nestles into the hillsides, with a commanding view of the Wye Valley between Tintern and Redbrook.
The castle and St Mary's Parish Church, built in 1089, must have been the site of a considerable community, for the castle was the home of the Constable of the Forest of Dean, a region stretching northwards and eastwards toward the city of Gloucester. Cut off from the rest of England by the tidal Severn River to the east and the treacherous tidal Wye to the west, the Forest was in many ways more isolated than most other parts of the country. As a result, this area produced a culture, language and way of living peculiarly its own. The Forest is full of ancient customs and traditions.
In 1155 the castle and the Forest of Dean were held by the Crown after the revolt of Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford. It then remained as a Crown possession for the rest of the Middle Ages.
Between 1876 and 1959, while industry was booming in the Forest of Dean, St Briavels was served by the Wye Valley Railway, and St Briavels Station was situated a mile away near Bigsweir bridge. The line closed to passengers in 1959 and freight in 1964 by which time the station had closed.
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