England–Wales border after Harold's death at the Battle of Hastings, Wales was again divided without a leader to resist the Normans. Immediately after the Norman conquest of England, King William installed one of his most trusted confidants, William FitzOsbern, as Earl of Hereford. By 1071 he had started the building of Chepstow Castle, the first castle in Britain built of stone, near the mouth of the Wye. It served as a base from which the Normans continued to expand westward into south Wales, establishing a castle at Caerleon and extinguishing the Welsh kingdom of Gwent. William also installed Roger de Montgomerie at
Whitney-on-Wye toll bridge Whitney-on-Wye toll bridge Whitney-on-Wye toll bridge is a single-carriageway, wood- and stone-construction in Herefordshire, England. The toll bridge carries the B4350 south from its junction with the A438, near Whitney-on-Wye, across the River Wye. It comprises two Grade II listed structures. A bridge was first built at the site around 1780 following authorisation by Act of Parliament and with the agreement of Tomkyns Dew, the lord of the manor. The stone structure of five bays replaced a ferry that had been operated by Dew. This bridge and two successors of similar design were all destroyed by flooding on the river,