The Little Bridge at Clawdd Du is an important little bridge, a Grade II* Listed Building, over a defensive ditch that is a Scheduled Monument of national importance for its potential to enhance knowledge of medieval defensive organisation and the growth of towns. The deep sided ditch comprises the remains of a stretch of the medieval town outer defenses and through which waters of the River Monnow would have been diverted in times of threat. The ditch, which records show was also called the Black Dyke, was built to provide protection for the suburb of Over Monnow, which was an important iron and wool working centre during the medieval period, including the manufacture of Monmouth caps. Originally there would have been a large bank on the inner side of the ditch, possibly surmounted by a wooden palisade, but the ditch has been flattened.
There was probably a bridge here in the C14 when the outer defences were strengthened against the threat of Welsh insurgency and to protect the increasingly populous suburb of Over Monnow. It might be expected that the first bridge would have been a timber one which could easily be removed and that the permanent stone one would only have been built in less troubled times. The present bridge appears late medieval-C17 in character and has undergone various repairs and rebuildings, including ones in the late C20.
These days the ditch is maintained for drainage and when the rivers Monnow and Wye are in flood, water will back up into the ditch to a varying degree.
The cache, a small 2ml tube, is not located either on the bridge or within the ditch, so you should not enter the ditch which is a Scheduled Monument, instead it is placed a short walk away from the published co-ordinates.
At the published co-ordinates find the answers to the following:
What is the date of the 'Dogs Fouling of Land Act'? = ABCD
How many letters in the second word of the last line? = E
Second number in the cost of the fine? = F
The cache can be found at: N51 48.(C-D)E(C-D-A) W002 43.FBA
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The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then, the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here: - Little Bridges Geocaching Series (littlebridgesseries.co.uk). If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.