Chepstow's riverfront area is set to be transformed following a £400,000 Heritage Lottery grant.

The money is part of a £2.8m Lottery windfall to be spent on projects in the Wye Valley, after the region's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty group was successful in a bid for the cash.

Heritage projects in the Overlooking the Wye Landscape Partnership Scheme are set to use the money to improve and promote historic sites throughout the area.

Chepstow town councillor Ned Heywood was involved in gaining Chepstow's critical match funding for the project, which made the town eligible for the grant.

He said: "This award is a major boost for Chepstow. We are going to be able to use this money to greatly enhance the riverfront area of Chepstow and create a multi-use recreational space in the visually exciting area below the two great Chepstow bridges."

MP for Monmouthshire, David Davies, said: "This is wonderful news for Chepstow and I look forward to seeing some of the projects that are going to be put in place.

"It is going to be good to attract more tourists to the area which will obviously boost the local economy."

In total £400,000 will be spent on projects in the Chepstow area. Of this £60,000 will be used to create sculptures, artworks and information panels which will illustrate Chepstow's rich engineering and shipbuilding heritage and tell the story of the Severn Princess Ferry, which will be moved to a permanent site.

The riverside walk will be extended and £168,000 will be spent at Chepstow Museum on the creation of a new exhibition of The Wye Tour. Engineering apprentices from Fairfield-Mabey in Chepstow will fabricate a £30,000 steel sculpture for the area, designed by the winner of a £5,000 prize open sculpture competition.

The sponsorship raised in Chepstow for the Heritage grant also provides some match funding for the £177,000 expenditure on conserving, restoring and interpreting the famous viewpoints on the walks in Piercefield Woods, which were created by Valentine Morris in the 1750s.

12:25pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

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