Recapturing, enhancing and celebrating The Gwent Levels
Welcome to the Gwent Levels…
…an extraordinary landscape sandwiched between the hills of south Wales and the silt-laden waters of the Severn Estuary.
Reclaimed from the sea by the Romans, over the last two thousand years, generations of people have shaped the Levels to create a distinctive landscape with a deep, rich history and a wealth of wildlife.
The Living Levels Landscape Partnership aims to reconnect people and communities to the Gwent Levels and provide a sustainable future for this historic and unique area.
Explore our website to discover the Living Levels.
Online Talks
Recordings of online talks
After a long absence, Marsh Harriers are once again resident (and breeding) on the Gwent Levels.
Using the 1881 census and contemporary historical sources, the History RATS have produced a series of portraits of parishes on the Levels in the late 19th century.
History RATS Glyn Parkhouse recounts the story of the coming of the railway to the Gwent Levels.
History RATS Marjorie Neal recounts the history of Caerphilly cheese making on the Wentlooge Levels.
Tony Hopkins, former county archivist at Gwent Archives and one of our History RATS, considers the effects of Henry VIII’s policies on Monmouthshire and the Gwent Levels.
Local farmer and member of the History RATS, David Waters, whose family have lived on the Levels since the 1600s, shares his memories of living and working alongside Monk’s Ditch.
History RAT, Tony Pickup, tells the story of the struggle to maintain the sea wall protecting the Levels during the 19th Century and the historic piece of legislation that solved the problem.
The Wales Coast Path is a long distance footpath that begins (or ends) in Chepstow and follows the coast of Wales for 870 miles (1400km) to Queensferry in Flintshire.
The year 2021 marks the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the tragic death of fourteen-year-old Louisa Maud Evans.
Step back in time at the National Roman Legion Museum and explore life in a far-flung outpost of the mighty Roman Empire.
Parc Tredelerch (Tredelerch Park) is an area of parkland next to the Rhymney River on the east side of Cardiff.
Churches have been at the heart of life on the Levels for much of the last thousand years.
In 2002, during construction of the Newport Riverfront Arts Centre on the west bank of the River Usk, the remains of a 15th century ship were discovered.
People have been fishing along the coastline of the Gwent Levels and in the waters of the Severn Estuary for thousands of years.
History RAT, Marion Sweeney, explores the history of pylons; an intrusive eyesore, or a thing of elegant beauty?
From the Ice Age to the Industrial Age – join us an animated journey through 12000 years of Gwent Levels history
Walking the Levels
Explore the Gwent Levels along a network of footpaths, bridleways, and green lanes, including a section of the Wales Coast Path, and discover the areas incredible landscape, wildlife and history.
Life on the Levels celebrates the cultural heritage of this unique landscape by recording the stories of people who have lived, worked and played on the Levels.
Newport Wetlands and Magor Marsh nature reserves are to join a list of sites from across the UK that have been specially chosen for the range of dragonfly and damselfly species they support.
Visitors to the sea wall at Goldcliff can take part in a global initiative to help monitor the effects of climate change on our coastlines.
Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve is celebrating another successful year for two iconic wetland birds that have recently returned to the Gwent Levels.
After no sightings for over ten years, Variable Damselflies have been rediscovered at two sites on the Levels.
Living Land Management Wales is a Monmouthshire-based project that is using satellite mapping, socio-economic and environmental data, and computer modelling to address the fundamental question ‘How should we use our land now and into the future?’.
On Friday 23rd September, around forty people, including farmers, Living Levels Partners, and members of the local community, met at Redwick Village Hall to discuss the Sustaining the Gwent Levels project and the future of farming in Wales.
We have some amazingly talented local poets in and around the Levels. Read Stephen Cogbill’s recent poem Future Echoes.
On Thursday 7th July, we installed the latest in our series of sculptures celebrating the people of the Levels at Lighthouse Inn on the Wentlooge Levels.
Following reports of a wooden structure on the foreshore at Peterstone, Archaeologists made a remarkable discovery.
The (Future) Wales Coast Path is a year long series of creative events and installations exploring the impact sea level rise could have on the coastline of Wales, and investigating our relationship to land and water. Project lead, Alison Neighbour, describes what’s happening.
If you’ve got half-an-hour to spare, BBC Wales are broadcasting a programme entitled “Life on the Levels: A portrait of the past, present and future of the Gwent Levels”. The programme features interviews with archaeologist Professor Martin Bell, local historian and farmer Sue Waters, and artist Alison Neighbour.
Stay up to date
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Ymunwch â 3 Grŵp Hanes Plwyf a fydd yn cyfarfod ar gyfer sgwrs am ddim gan Mr Peter Strong, ‘Tales of the Levels’.… https://t.co/TwzLgGl1So
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Join the 3 Parish History Group as they meet for a free talk by Mr Peter Strong on the ‘Tales of the Levels’ Nash… https://t.co/fWecicKGca
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Early riser? Why not join us to soak up the dawn chorus at Magor Marsh with naturalist @GmusicV as part of the… https://t.co/khLGob5mrO