The parish includes the villages of Tidenham,
Beachley,
Sedbury,
Tutshill and
Woodcroft, the hamlets of
Boughspring,
Stroat and
Wibdon, and the deserted village of
Lancaut. According to the
United Kingdom Census 2001 the parish had a population of 5,316, increasing to 5,486 at the 2011 census. Tidenham, Beachley and Woolaston were added to Gloucestershire by the first
Act of Union of England and Wales in 1536; previously they had been part of the
Marcher lordship of
Striguil. The stretch of the
Wye Valley lying within the parish includes several popular
rock climbing cliffs at
Wintour's Leap near Woodcroft and the
Devil's Pulpit, a famous rock formation and viewpoint overlooking
Tintern Abbey. The parish also contains Tidenham Chase - the largest remaining fragment of lowland
heathland in
Gloucestershire. Also notable is the former Dayhouse Quarry which, after providing traffic for the remaining fragment of the
former railway to
Monmouth, is now home to the
National Diving and Activity Centre.
Miss Grace's Lane is a natural cave system approximately long and is the second-longest cave in the Forest of Dean area. Located as it is between the Wye and Severn the area has always been important as a site for crossing these rivers. Historically ferries crossed the River Severn from
Beachley to
Aust and now this route is followed by the
Severn Bridge one of whose piers stands on the Beachley peninsula although the bridge itself begins in Wales. From
Roman times the River Wye has been bridged between Tutshill and
Chepstow. The area was previously served by
Tidenham railway station on the
Wye Valley Railway. The railway, which once ran from
Chepstow through
Tintern up the
Wye Valley, and joined the mainline near Tidenham, was closed in 1959 and was later the centre of several failed attempts to re-open it. In 2021 the route, known as the Wye Valley Greenway and including a tunnel, was opened for walkers and cyclists. ==Governance==