Chepstow Town Gate

Chepstow Town Gate stands at the western end of the town’s High Street in Monmouthshire, Wales. Built in the late 13th century as part of the Port Wall, it was the only landward entrance to the town. The current archway mainly dates from the 16th century but has been restored and rebuilt several times. It is a Grade I listed building and is known locally as the Town Arch. The Gate House and the George Hotel stand immediately beside it on either side. The Gate was designed to control access to Chepstow and collect tolls from those entering the market. Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk, built the Port Wall and the Town Gate in the 1270s. In 1524, Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, rebuilt the arch and granted a town charter. The Gate was the scene of a skirmish during the Civil War in 1648. Tolls were collected here until 1874, when the last Keeper of the Gate died. Visitors find a square-plan building with battlements on top. The room above the archway once served as a prison, storeroom, workshop, and the town’s first museum. Two worn heraldic angels on the western side date from the 16th-century rebuilding. The Gate House next door was rebuilt in 1609 and later housed a brewery, surgery, and bank. The George Hotel opposite was rebuilt after a fire in 1896 and once stood near Robin Hood’s Cross, where trading took place outside the toll zone.