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The Prince of Wales Bridge is simply a marvel of engineering but conceals secrets from past (Image: Getty Images)
At much than 3 miles long, it is the UK's 2nd longest span and crossed by 40,000 cars each day. It was built astatine a outgo of good implicit £300million crossed arguably the astir perilous assemblage of h2o successful Britain, the Severn Estuary, which has the world's 2nd largest tidal range.
With a tidal scope of 50 feet, swift currents and fierce winds opposing the tides, it tin make deadly conditions. And these precise conditions person moulded what lies beneath erstwhile you transverse the Prince of Wales Bridge, an bonzer engineering marvel that connects Wales and England via the M4.
Unbeknownst to many, underneath prevarication a dilapidated medieval chapel and the wreckage of 2 barges, obliterated by a collision and an detonation that killed respective men and acceptable the Severn waters alight, reports Wales Online.
These intriguing features were explored successful Britain astatine Low Tide connected Channel 4.
St Twrogg's Island successful the Severn Estuary, with the chapel disposable connected apical of it (Image: Channel 4)
The 'chapel' successful ruins
It's hard to judge thing could person been built connected onshore wherever the tide ebbs and flows today. But the ruins of a chapel tin beryllium seen, close successful the bosom of the water. St Twrogg's Island is lone accessible astatine precise debased tide. On apical of the land is simply a ruined building, the intent of which isn't known for certain.
A reconstruction for Channel 4 programme Britain astatine Low Tide of however the chapel mightiness person looked successful the 13th period (Image: Channel 4)
On Britain astatine Low Tide, archaeologist Oliver Hutchinson of Citizan said it could person been placed astatine the tract to pass radical disconnected the rocks astatine the unsafe constituent wherever the Wye and Severn met. It could besides person been a constituent wherever radical tried to transverse the river.
Charlotte Mecklenburgh of the Museum of London Archaeology spotted tons of "different phases" to the building, with 1 signifier "clearly" medieval.
Charlotte Mecklenburgh of the Museum of London Archaeology spots antithetic phases successful the gathering of the ruin (Image: Channel 4)
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Researchers besides learned the land is besides known arsenic "Chapel Island". Professor Andrew Reynolds of University College London said the benignant of the gathering suggested it dates from the 13th period successful an aboriginal Gothic style. Some of the rocks utilized successful its operation showed instrumentality marks.
Professor Madeleine Grey, of the University of South Wales, said the land whitethorn person been an land hermitage.
She said: "If you were a hermit successful the aboriginal Christian tradition, you went retired into the desert. You've a occupation to find a godforsaken successful Wales. So they had this thought of a godforsaken successful the ocean. It archetypal crops up successful 1290."
The ruined gathering connected apical of the land (Image: Channel 4)
Prof Grey besides shared insights from a humanities papers connected a programme, revealing that a bishop erstwhile granted a Benedictine monk support to behaviour services connected the island, which became a pilgrimage hotspot successful the 14th century. However, its diminution successful the 15th period whitethorn person been owed to rising oversea levels, according to Prof Grey.
The land could person continued to service hermits until the Reformation and acted arsenic some a hermitage and a beacon for navigators.
The wrecks of 2 barges seen astatine debased tide connected the oversea furniture (Image: Channel 4)
The wrecks of 2 barges
In a tragic maritime mishap successful 1960, 2 barges crashed into the Severn Railway Bridge, starring to its partial collapse. The span has since vanished entirely.
However, the 2 barges, named the Arkendale and the Wastdale, stay stranded unneurotic successful the soil for implicit fractional a century.
The incidental became known arsenic the Severn Bridge Disaster. Five men were killed. The tankers were carrying achromatic lipid and petroleum tone and the Arkendale was heading from Swansea to Worcester.
Although determination had been nary motion of fog astatine the commencement of the journey, it descended precise rapidly astatine astir 10pm and the 2 barges collided with the bridge.
The cargo caught occurrence connected the h2o and, according to this study of the disaster, the "river was ablaze for 2 miles", leaving the men who were faced with jumping into the h2o with the fearfulness of burning arsenic good arsenic drowning.
Chris Witts watched it each from the vessel helium was moving connected astatine the property of 16.
He told the programme: "Suddenly the fog rolled in. The Wastdale, helium mislaid his bearings, and ended up alongside the Arkendale and they became locked unneurotic and came retired into the fast-flowing tide and were taken sideways up the stream towards the bridge."
He saw a immense explosion, caused erstwhile 2 girders fell from the span connected to the barges. The harm caused by the falling girders is inactive disposable successful the ruins.
Cars queue up for the Severn Ferry with the precocious completed span towering supra successful June 1966 (Image: Mirrorpix)
The Roman crossing point
Today, the Prince of Wales Bridge and its older neighbour, the Severn Bridge, transportation 2 motorways implicit the estuary, and the Severn Tunnel transports trains connected the Great Western enactment underneath the h2o from Bristol and London westbound to Swansea and beyond.
But the oldest known crossing constituent is located from Beachley, adjacent Chepstow and conscionable beyond the Wales-England border, to Aust connected the other slope of the Severn. This way was utilised by Romans to transport soldiers into southbound Wales, and determination are records of it dating backmost to the Middle Ages.
In the 20th century, a ferry work utilized to ply crossed the river, ceasing operations successful 1966. Remarkably, these ferries could accommodate astir 16 automobiles albeit parked truthful snugly that doors remained unopen passim the travel crossed 1 of the astir treacherous waterways successful Britain.
The decaying constituent astatine Aust wherever radical boarded a ferry to transverse the Severn (Image: Channel 4)
The Severn Princess, 1 of the 3 Severn ferry boats, soon earlier the past crossing successful September 1966 (Image: Mirrorpix)
The vanished village
The ruined chapel connected St Twrogg's Island is not the lone 1 successful the area. Nearby, successful the colony of Sudbrook, adjacent Caldicot, is different ruined chapel, said to day from the 12th century, which would person been astatine the centre of a "very ample village". It's apt the colony would person been prosperous.
A ruined religion successful the colony of Sudbrook, adjacent Caldicot (Image: Channel 4)
The colony successful that signifier nary longer exists but successful the 1930s, excavations adjacent uncovered the remains of different medieval building. It's imaginable the colony succumbed to erosion. Records amusement it was thriving successful the 15th period and the religion was inactive being utilized successful 1674 due to the fact that there's a grounds of a wedding being held there. But by 1720, it was nary longer being utilized - a play of clip which coincides with a bid of terrible wintertime storms.
A 'cliff' astatine the broadside of the river, wherever a colony could person existed earlier it succumbed to erosion (Image: Channel 4)
Researchers look astatine the chromatic remains of an effort to physique a passageway nether the River Severn successful the aboriginal 19th period (Image: Channel 4)
But Sudbrook's fortunes were revived with the operation of the existent Severn Tunnel successful the Victorian era, erstwhile respective of the houses seen contiguous were built by the technologist down the project. The passageway opened to postulation successful 1886, erstwhile it was the longest railway passageway successful the world.
The abandoned underwater tunnel
In 1810, an effort was made to make the world's archetypal underwater crossing, further up the Severn betwixt Newnham and Arlingham adjacent the Forest of Dean successful Gloucestershire. The purpose had been to transport ember and workers managed to get halfway crossed earlier the task was abandoned. But now, lone immoderate chromatic enactment remains.
Inside the existent Severn Tunnel (Image: WalesOnline)
Sudbrook Pumping Station, tally by Network Rail to support the Severn Tunnel adust (Image: Roger Davies/Creative Commons)
The Queen opened the archetypal Severn Bridge connected September 8, 1966, erstwhile it was hailed it arsenic the dawn of a caller economical epoch for southbound Wales. F rom 1966 to 1996, the span served arsenic the M4, until the Second Severn Crossing was opened
The Prince of Wales Bridge today, a singular feat of engineering (Image: Getty Images)
The span today
The Second Severn Crossing was opened connected 5 June 1996 by Prince Charles and present carries the M4 motorway betwixt Wales and England. It became the much salient of the 2 bridges crossing the Severn Estuary. The archetypal Severn bridge, opened 3 decades earlier, is present the acold little engaged of the two, carrying the M48 motorway and often having to beryllium closed successful precocious winds.
In 2018 the Second Severn Crossing was renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge successful honour of the past Prince Charles. It has three motorway lanes per absorption and is little susceptible to disruption successful precocious winds.
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