Wyndcliff

According to Joseph Bradney, the location was mentioned by Nennius as Huit gwynt, from the Welsh words Chwyth gwynt meaning "the blowing of the wind", and this gives the origin of the feature's modern name rather than it being derived from the words "Wye" and "cliff". Wyndcliff is listed, jointly with the park at Piercefield House, at Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. Wyndcliff gives its name to Wyndcliffe Court, a country house about to the west of the Eagle's Nest. ==Geology and ecology==

Like nearby Black Cliff, the crag is formed from strata of the Black Rock Limestone Subgroup (traditionally referred to as the 'Lower Dolomite'). It sits atop the less competent strata of the Avon Group (traditionally the 'Lower Limestone Shale') which have collapsed under the loading. The broad landslide mass extends to the riverbank. The area is largely covered by formerly coppiced but ancient woodland. Wyndcliff Wood is regarded as a high quality example of gorge woodland, with beech, yew, lime, ash and hazel trees, as well as varieties of whitebeam. ==Viewpoints==

Until the nineteenth century, the only access to the site was on foot from the river or from St Arvans (to the west) or Porthcasseg (to the north). From 1824, the building of a new turnpike road between St Arvans and Redbrook allowed greater ease of access to the Wyndcliff area through which the road passed. It became the focus of carriage trips by tourists wishing to see the views, and numbers grew in particular with the establishment of steam packet services between Bristol and Chepstow which allowed day trips to be made. The Duke of Beaufort, who owned the land, was responsible through his steward Osmond Wyatt for installing a path known as the 365 Steps (though the modern number of steps is closer to 300) from the road to the top of the cliff. There, Wyatt constructed a split-level viewing platform called the Eagle's Nest, in 1828. The cottage later fell into disrepair and was demolished in the 1950s. Samuel Taylor Coleridge described the view as "the whole world imaged in its vast circumference". The writer C. J. O. Evans, in the early 1950s, wrote: "In whichever direction the gaze travels, a sublime prospect is unfolded and the claim that nine counties are visible on a clear day is not more enthralling than the grandeur of the face of nature in all its rich variety of scenes so beautifully displayed." ==Leisure==

The Wye Valley Walk passes through Wyndcliff Wood, and several public footpaths divert from the main path. ==Access==

Access to the Wyndcliff is through the Lower Wyndcliff car park on the A466; or the Upper Wyndcliff car park accessed by a lane off the A466 to the east of St Arvans. The latter parking area is close to the Eagle's Nest viewpoint. ==References==