Tidenham | |
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Tidenham Church |
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Tidenham shown within Gloucestershire | |
Population | 5,486 |
OS grid reference | ST5558695942 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CHEPSTOW |
Postcode district | NP16 |
Dialling code | 01291 |
Police | Gloucestershire |
Fire | Gloucestershire |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Tidenham (/ˈtɪdnəm, -dənəm/) is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean of west Gloucestershire, England, adjoining the Welsh border. Tidenham is bounded by the River Wye (which forms the Welsh border) to the west and the River Severn to the south. Offa's Dyke runs through the western part of the parish, terminating at Sedbury cliff above the River Severn.
The parish includes the villages of Tidenham, Beachley, Boughspring, Sedbury, Tutshill and Woodcroft, and according to the United Kingdom Census 2001 had a population of 5,316, increasing to 5,486 at the 2011 census. At one time it included the now-abandoned village of Lancaut. Tidenham, Beachley and Woolaston were added to Gloucestershire by the first Act of Union of England and Wales in 1536; previously they had been part of the Marcher lordship of Striguil.
The stretch of the Wye Valley lying within the parish includes several popular rock climbing cliffs at Wintour's Leap near Woodcroft and the Devil's Pulpit, a famous rock formation and viewpoint overlooking Tintern Abbey. The parish also contains Tidenham Chase - the largest remaining fragment of lowland heathland in Gloucestershire. Also notable is the former Dayhouse Quarry which, after providing traffic for the remaining fragment of the former railway to Monmouth, is now home to the National Diving and Activity Centre. The railway has been the centre of several attempts to re-open it, but the overgrown track tells the result of these efforts to restore Tidenham station quite effectively. It ran through Tintern up the Wye Valley, and joined the mainline near Tidenham.