River Wye given a Latin name "Vaga", an adjective meaning 'wandering'. The Tithe map references a Vagas Field in both Whitchurch and Chepstow. Philologists such as Edward Lye and Joseph Bosworth in the 18th and early 19th centuries suggested an Old English derivation from "wæg", "wave". The source of the Wye is in the Welsh mountains at Plynlimon. It flows through or past several towns and villages including Rhayader, Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Hereford (the only city on the River Wye), Ross-on-Wye, Symonds Yat, Monmouth and Tintern, meeting the Severn estuary just below Chepstow. Its total length is . The lower of the
Upper Wye Gorge Upper Wye Gorge Upper Wye Gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological and geological characteristics, around Symonds Yat in the Upper Wye Valley on the Wales–England border. The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS). The SSSI, of which are in England and are in Wales, notified in 1969, is located north east of the town of Monmouth. It lies within the civil parishes of Goodrich and Whitchurch in Herefordshire, English Bicknor in Gloucestershire and within the community of Monmouth in Monmouthshire. The majority