Historical Places of Interest

St. Michael's Church

Religion has always played a major role in the life of Tintern Village. As far back as 784 there was a Celtic Church on the site of St. Michael's Churc h . It has remained a place of worship and reflection ever since. This was at the end of the village called Tintern Parva (or little Tintern).

St. Mary's Church

The other end of the village was served by St. Mary's Churc h . Sadly this burnt down in 1977 but still possesses fantastic views of the Abbey. The cemetery is still open to the public and like St. Michael's still allows public access.

The Limekiln and Quarry

The limekiln and associated quarry area are a scheduled ancient monument, located in close proximity to the Wye Valley Walk (opposite the Abbey behind the Abbey Hotel). The quarry features
are clear and impressive and the limekiln is in good condition, illustrating key features such as poke holes although the charge hole is no longer extant. The limekiln and the surrounding site have good potential for increasing understanding of the lime industry.

The work planned within the ongoing work by the Overlooking the Wye Project, will be to consolidate the stonework,
excavate the charge hole, remove some vegetation, add interpretation and improve access.

Abbey Mill Water Wheel

Abbey Mill old water wheel was made around 1870 and stopped on 22nd March 1951, electricity taking over from water powered energy. Abbey Mill played an important part in the Industrial history of Tintern and the Angiddy Valley. Formerly a corn mill to Tintern Abbey, later an iron-wire works and lastly a wood turnery and sawmill. Abbey Mill still stands proud for people to enjoy after surviving more than 860 years of change. The Wheel lovingly restored in 2009 turns again.

The Lower Wire Works

These works form part of wider proposals to improve visitor access in the Tintern / Angidy corridor, including proposed new car parking and visitor orientation at the Lower Wire Works (Sawmill) site in Tintern village, new access routes, including the replacement and updating of the Tintern Trail and the complete overhaul of visitor and pedestrian signage within Tintern, to improve visitors orientation, and enhance walking links between the various attractions (Tintern Abbey, Abbey Mill, Lower Wireworks site etc).

The Angiddy Furnace

This site represents early industrial development, dating back to the mid-16th century, when the Angiddy valley was chosen as the location for a new ironworks due to the availability of water power, charcoal (from the surrounding woodland) and local iron ore. The Angiddy furnace was built in 1650 and only ceased production in 1826 when improved methods of manufacture rendered the complex redundant. The Angiddy ironworks provides a fascinating example of early iron production and has historic significance as part of the South Wales iron industry, which provided most of the pig (or cast) iron in Britain in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The work planned here is to improve the drainage of the site, cut back the vegetation, conserve the remaining furnace structures and to increase the level of interpretation provided.

And whilst looking after it's history the village is moving forward to the years ahead