Visit Usk Places

Welcome to Visit Usk Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Usk

  

Usk Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Usk

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Usk history

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Roman times

Roman legionary fortress of Burrium was founded on the River Usk by the military commander Aulus Didius Gallus, around AD 55. It was the earliest Legionary fortress in Wales and although the site was constricted by hills, subject to flooding, and not on a navigable river, it did offer good communications inland up the river.

Norman times

Usk Castle is one of the few castles still privately owned and occupied. Normans built the castle as part of their plans for controlling the area’s resources and people. After the fortress was abandoned, it continued to be occupied as a civilian settlement.

Charters

A Benedictine priory was founded around 1170, and part of the building is retained in the church of St. Mary. It was reduced in size after Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. The town was incorporated by charters granted by Edward II, Edward IV and succeeding monarchs.

The Welsh Revolt

Usk was the birthplace of Adam of Usk. Owain Glyndŵr burned Usk to the ground during the ‘Welsh Revolt’ in 1403. Battle of Pwll Melyn in 1405 occurred north of the castle. English forces routed their Welsh opponents, causing much loss of life.

The 16th and 17th centuries

The Great House of the town, later subdivided into smaller units, was built in the mid-16th century for the Williams family. Its original entrance was at the rear of the present building, and faced onto gardens and meadows. The town market was moved from Twyn Square in 1598 to a location closer to the river, at New Market Street.

The 18th and 19th centuries

Usk became well known for the high quality of its japanware, a process of decorating metals by applying a lacquer to tinplate. Products from Usk included tin trays, jardinières, coal boxes and coal boxes. Usk was a thriving market town in the first part of the 19th century.

Usk etymology

William Camden recorded that the town’s English name derives from Caer-usk (the Caer or Castrum on the River Usk) The name of the river itself may mean “abounding in fish” or simply “water” The origin of the Welsh name Brynbuga (Welsh: [brɨ̞nˈbæll] is less certain. The local Brythonic name adopted into Latin was recorded as Brunebegy and Burenbegie in the 15th century.

You can visit Usk places with Walkfo Usk to hear history at Usk’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Usk has 37 places to visit in our interactive Usk map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Usk, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Usk places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Usk & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 37 audio facts unique to Usk places in an interactive Usk map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Usk Places Map
37 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Usk historic spots	Usk tourist destinations	Usk plaques	Usk geographic features
Walkfo Usk tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Usk

  

Best Usk places to visit

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Usk has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Usk’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Usk’s information audio spots:

Priory Church of St Mary, Usk The Priory Church of St Mary is the parish church of Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was the church of a Benedictine nunnery founded by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke in the twelfth century. The church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1974.

Castle House, Usk Castle House in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, originally formed the gatehouse to Usk Castle. Much altered in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it is now a private home and Grade I listed building.

Usk Castle Usk Castle (Welsh: Castell Brynbuga) is a castle site in the town of Usk in central Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is a Grade I listed building as of 16 February 1953. Within the castle, and incorporating parts of its gatehouse, stands Castle House.

Porth-y-carn, Usk Porth-y-carn, Porthycarne Street, Usk, Monmouthshire is an early 19th-century Neoclassical villa. Built c. 1834 for Thomas Reece, the agent of the “iron king”, Crawshay Bailey.

Olde Malsters, Usk Olde Malsters, 11 New Market Street, Usk, Monmouthshire is a Grade II* listed building. The existing building comprises the cross-wing and a passage from the original townhouse.

Ynys Hafod, Henllys & Min Yr Afon, Usk Ynys Hafod, Henllys and Min Yr Afon, New Market Street, Usk, Monmouthshire, are three houses forming a continuous range in the centre of the town. Each house is a Grade II* listed building.

St Madoc’s Church, Llanbadoc The Church of St Madoc, Llanbadoc, Monmouthshire is a Grade II* listed building. It is a parish church with its origins in the 14th century. The church remains an active parish church.

St David’s Church, Llangeview St David’s Church, Llangeview, is a redundant church in Monmouthshire, Wales. Grade I listed because of its “exceptional interior” including a 15th-century rood-loft and “rare pre-Victorian box pews and fittings”

Pentwyn, Llanllowell Pentwyn, Llanllowell, Monmouthshire is a farmhouse dating from the mid-16th century. The house is Grade II* listed, with the adjacent barn having its own Grade II listing.

Monkswood, Monmouthshire Monkswood (Welsh: Coed y Mynach) is a village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, United Kingdom.

Visit Usk plaques