River Wye William Sandys in the early 1660s with locks to enable vessels to pass weirs. According to Herefordshire Council Archaeology, these were flash locks. The work proved to be insufficiently substantial and in 1696 a further Act of Parliament authorised the County of Hereford to buy up and demolish the mills on the Wye and Lugg. All locks and weirs were removed, except that at New Weir forge below Goodrich, which survived until about 1815. This was paid for by a tax on the county. Weirs were removed all along the Wye in Herefordshire, making the river passable to the western
England–Wales border England and Wales therefore passes along Monmouthshire's eastern boundaries with Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, essentially along the River Monnow and River Wye. The first legislation applying solely to Wales since the 16th century was passed in 1881. Subsequently, the border between England and Wales has taken on increasing legal and political significance. In 1964 a separate department of state was established for Wales – the Welsh Office – which assumed an increasing range of administrative responsibilities from Whitehall. By 1992, the Welsh Office oversaw housing, local government, roads, historic buildings, health, education, economic development, agriculture, fisheries and urban regeneration, although the