Sharpness

Sharpness railway station served the village and docks of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England from 1875 to 1964.

The Severn Railway Bridge (historically called the Severn Bridge) was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway Company, primarily to carry coal from the Forest of Dean to the docks at Sharpness; it was the furthest-downstream bridge over the Severn until the opening of the Severn road bridge in 1966. When the company got into financial difficulties in 1893, it was taken over jointly by the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway companies. The bridge continued to be used for freight and passenger services until 1960, and saw temporary extra traffic on the occasions that the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering work. The bridge was constructed by Hamilston's Windsor Ironworks Company Limited of Garston, Liverpool. It was approached from the north via a masonry viaduct and had twenty-two spans. The pier columns were formed of circular sections, bolted together and filled with concrete. The twenty-one regular wrought iron spans were then put in place, as well as the southernmost span, the swing bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The bridge was 4,162 ft (1,269 m) long and 70 ft (21 m) above high water. 6,800 long tons (7,600 short tons; 6,900 t) of iron were used in its construction. A number of accidents took place at the bridge over the years, with vessels colliding with the piers due to the strong tides. In 1960 two river barges hit one of the piers on the bridge, causing two spans to collapse into the river. Repair work was under consideration when a similar collision occurred the following year, after which it was decided that it would be uneconomical to repair the bridge. It was demolished between 1967 and 1970, with few traces remaining.

The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a significant loop in the river, at a once-dangerous bend near Arlingham. It was once the broadest and deepest canal in the world. The canal is 26.5 km (16.5 miles) long.

Severn Bridge railway station was a small station on the Severn Bridge Railway located close to the north west bank of the River Severn, 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England.

Purton is a hamlet on the west bank of the River Severn, in the civil parish of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It lies opposite the village of Purton near Berkeley on the east bank of the river. The name of the place derives from the Old English pirige tun, meaning "pear orchard". It was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Purton was a small port, and there was a ferry across the river, Purton Passage, to the other Purton by 1282. In the late 18th and early 19th century, there was also a ford across the river here. In 1740, the removal of a large rock from the river bed on the Berkeley side caused the river to shift its channel. This meant only a single crossing a day was possible and led to a decline in the trade. The river had returned to its old channel ten years later, although it was altered by another shift in 1761. In the late 18th century and the early 19th the river was often forded at Purton, but some people, misjudging the tide times, were drowned. The ferry continued in use until 1879, when it was replaced by the Severn Railway Bridge.The manor house is a Grade II* listed building. It dates from 1618 and lies immediately above the Chepstow/Gloucester railway line which passes in a deep cutting at that point. It has a principal block, of three storeys and three bays, parallel with the river and a wing which projects to the north-east, with a small extension added in the 19th century. Historic England, in its listing record, describes the manor house as "an important survival, somewhat modified over the centuries". A barn to the west of the manor house is listed at Grade II. Old Severn Bridge House, which Verey and Brooks note was formerly a hotel, is also Grade II listed.To the north of the hamlet, the Purton Viaduct crosses the road from Etloe. Designed in 1830, and contemporary with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, it was planned as part of a crossing of the Severn, the Purton Steam Carriage Road which was never completed. Historic England consider the viaduct of "considerable historical and industrial archaeological interest".

The Purton Hulks or Purton Ships' Graveyard is a number of abandoned boats and ships, deliberately beached beside the River Severn near Purton in Gloucestershire, England, to reinforce the river banks. Most were beached in the 1950s and are now in a state of considerable decay. The site forms the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain.A riverbank collapse in 1909 led to concerns that the barrier between the river and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal would be breached. Old vessels were run aground and soon filled with water and silt to create a tidal erosion barrier. The vessels included steel barges, Severn trows and concrete ships. The boats came from throughout the British Isles and were built in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Since 2000, archaeological investigations have been undertaken to find out more about the vessels and their states of decay. Explanatory labels have been provided. One barge has been scheduled as an ancient monument and several are included in the National Register of Historic Vessels.

Lydney Cliff (grid reference SO654020) is a 8.0-hectare (20-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1990. Part of the site is included in the Severn Estuary SSSI.

The Little Avon River is a small river partly in southern Gloucestershire and partly in South Gloucestershire. For much of its length it forms the boundary between the county of Gloucestershire and the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It rises to the east of Wickwar, near Horton, passes near Charfield, Stone and Berkeley, and enters the River Severn via Berkeley Pill. It was formerly navigable up to moorings at Berkeley, but a flood-prevention scheme, built in the 1960s, now prevents navigation more than a few hundred metres upstream.

Clarke's Pool Meadow (grid reference SO668061) is a 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire, notified in 1997. It lies on the flat top of 'Old Hill' about half a mile south of Blakeney. The site consists of two fields which were purchased by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in 1997. The site was designated an SSSI in the same year and it is one of the finest surviving traditional hay meadows in Gloucestershire.Similar meadows have been lost due to agricultural improvement. The site overlies Old Red Sandstone. This contributes to the unusual mix of grassland plants.

Berkeley railway station served the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway (MR), which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness.

Purton is a village on the east bank of the River Severn, 3 miles north of Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Hinton. It lies opposite the hamlet of Purton on the west bank of the river. The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal passes through the village. The name of the place derives from the Old English pirige tun, meaning "pear orchard".

The Berkeley Arms is a public house at Purton, Gloucestershire GL13 9HU. It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.