Wye Valley Wye Valley The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; ) is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscapes in Britain. The River Wye () is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The upper part passes through Rhayader, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye, but the area designated as an AONB covers surrounding a stretch lower down the river, from just south of Hereford to Chepstow. This area covers parts of the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, and is recognised in particular for its
England–Wales border Silures, traditionally the area between the rivers Usk, Wye and the Severn estuary. It was centred at different times on "Venta" (Caerwent), from which it derived its name, and "Isca Augusta" (Caerleon). Gwent generally allied with, and at various times was joined with, the smaller Welsh kingdom of Ergyng, centred in present-day southern Herefordshire west of the Wye (and deriving its name from the Roman town of "Ariconium"); and the larger kingdom of Glywysing in modern Glamorgan. The name Glywysing may indicate that it was founded by a British native of "Glevum" (Gloucester). The Battle of Mons Badonicus, circa 500,