Caldicot, Monmouthshire

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Caldicot (Welsh: Cil-y-coed) is a small town in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales.

[edit] Location

The town lies between Chepstow and the city of Newport, just off the busy M4 / M48 corridor through south Wales near the coastal plain [1], which also comprises the Gwent Levels or Caldicot and Wentloog Levels, adjacent to the estuary of the River Severn and the Bristol Channel. It has easy access by motorway to all large cities in the area such as Cardiff and across the Second Severn Crossing and old Severn Bridge to Bristol.

[edit] Attractions

It is also the location of Caldicot Castle [2] and lake. The area has popular waymarked footpaths along the Gwent Levels and the coastal path can be walked. Nearby is Caerwent, and Wentwood.

The population is around 11,000. It has a large school, Caldicot Comprehensive School.

Caldicot is the nearest town to the Welsh-side opening of the Severn (Railway) Tunnel -- although not the nearest incorporated area, as the Tunnel actually opens just outside Rogiet (pronounced 'Rogg-ett'), an ancient village which was developed in modern times largely to service the railway.

The name 'Caldicot' derives from the Old English phrase calde cot meaning 'cold hut'. A cold hut is an exposed shelter used by either humans or animals.

The town is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. Its entry reads, 'Durand the Sheriff holds of the King, one land, in Caerwent, called Caldicot. He has in demesne there 3 ploughs, and 15 half villeins, and 4 bondmen, and one knight. All these have twelve ploughs. There is a mill worth ten shillings.'

Caldicot is twinned with Waghäusel, Germany and Morières les Avignon France.

[edit] See also

• Caldicot Comprehensive School
• Caldicot Castle
• Caldicot (hundred)
• Caldicot and Wentloog Levels
• Caldicot railway station

[edit] External links

• Caldicot Community Website
• History of Monmouthshire - Volume IV Part II, The Hundred of Caldicot - J.A. Bradney
• Genuki info on Caldicot with historical links
• Kelly's 1901 Directory of Monmouthshire on Caldicot
• Maps and aerial photos