Most of the population of Chepstow live in Bulwark and most probably would not think of the area being rich in history.

But a walk organised by Chepstow Society showed there’s more to the area than just houses and an industrial estate.

Around 40 people gathered at the Severn Bridge Club – built in 1965 as the area expanded to house workers in the booming Gwent steel industry – for the start of the walk led by Henry Hodges.

The first stop was Bulwark Camp, which shows there have been people living in this area for as many as 4,500 years.

Until the end of the First World War agriculture was the most important feature of life in Bulwark and many of the modern street names such as St Tecla Road and Fairfield Road owe their names to the names of Bulwark’s farms.

The walk also explained what now look quite strange local features – why Old Bulwark Road swings around to meet Mathern Road and the path that runs parallel to the main road through Piggy’s Hill park.

The answers were both related to the grand Hardwick House that was demolished after the death of the last of the Hartland family that owned it.

Modern Bulwark Road was built relatively recently and Old Bulwark Road skirted around the edge of the Hartland estate while the path along the top of Piggy’s Hill was once the access to the house.

The walk also took in the cemetery built in the 1850s on a site chosen because it was out of the town.

There are many interesting stories attached to the people buried there, including a family whose dispute over a will went all the way to the House of Lords and was for many years the precedent cited by lawyers in similar cases.

It was a fascinating couple of hours and showed there is a lot more to Bulwark than many of us would have thought.