Recently Viv and Val with dogs Muttley and Dougie were joined by five ramblers for a circular walk in part of the Gwent Levels as misty rain fell but which later turned into warm sunshine.
At the village church at Goldcliff which is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene they were treated to an unplanned guided tour by a lady member which included the flood plaque on the north wall near the altar, which relates to a tidal wave that swept along the Bristol Channel drowning 2,000 people in 1606 and the plaque, which is around three feet from the ground marks the height of the flood water, whilst outside they viewed the bower which consists of two lines of trees that have been pollarded (cut back to the trunk to encourage new and stronger growth) to form a pretty archway leading to the church porch.
At the Gwent Levels the area which consists of tidal saltmarshes has been reclaimed from the sea by draining methods and all contained behind a stout sea wall to prevent the sea from encroaching on the land.
In order to keep the land reasonably dry to form pasture a complicated system of drainage was set up. Farmers hand dug channels to carry the surface water from the fields which enter larger gullies or grips and run into a network of field ditches or drainage ditches that are controlled by a series of sluice gates and pumps that drain into the reens which in turn empty the water into the sea through tidal flaps or gouts.
There were lots of footbridges in the fields behind the church as they walked in a north easterly direction to cross a main drainage ditch known as Monk’s Ditch, which passes through the village on its way to the sea before a short piece of road-walking led them to Whitson.
Over the years there have been various different spellings of the village name such as Witston, Widson and Wyttston but the present version is possibly derived from Whitestone. At high tide much of the village is below sea level and the main drainage ditch Monks Ditch was probably constructed and named after the monks at the priory in Goldcliff.
The houses and farmsteads are set back from the road behind long strips of land which dates back to medieval times in a system that was probably planned out by the monks of Goldcliff which is similar to the system used on reclamation areas in Holland.
The village church situated at Porton with its unusual and distinctive thimble-shaped tower and Norman font is dedicated to St Mary and was originally part of the Benedictine Priory at Goldcliff but is now sadly closed, although the churchyard is still maintained and it can only be reached along a public path which runs through private property.
From Church Farm more footbridges led them across the Pipe Lines and eventually on to Redwick which is probably the best preserved medieval nucleated village on the Gwent Levels and remains largely unaltered.
The church has been dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle since 1875 but previously was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and prior to that St Michael the Archangel.
However an inscription on the chalice dating to 1576 makes it pretty obvious St Thomas is the favoured saint. Fortunately the church was open and inside is a 13th century font, the remains of a medieval rood screen and loft and on a panel by the porch the height level the floodwater reached in 1606.
Outside above the door is a tile depicting the flood which has been set into the niche where the saint’s statue would have stood and during World War Two the church sustained bomb damage to the roof and the windows were blown out.
Situated close by is a stone shed which is utilised as a museum and contains all kinds of village artefacts (some would say other folks rubbish) which include a cider press, various sized rollers, old millstones and village stocks amongst many other items.
After lunch the footpath led through Church Farm and down to the coast where they followed the sea wall just beyond Porton House before turning inland to cross fields where sheep were grazing. Then joining a quiet lane at Clifton Court they made their way back to Goldcliff after what had been an interesting tramp on parts of the peaceful Gwent Levels.
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