WORK to preserve an historic industrial site is helping to keep traffic moving through Tintern.

The conservation work on the Abbey Tintern Furnace in the Angidy Valley has meant an improvement to the Lower Wireworks car park which is taking some of the traffic pressure off the centre of Tintern.

The work on the furnace, a key centre for metal-working in South Wales between the 16th and 19th centuries, is part of a wider project to preserve the area's history by the Overlooking the Wye partnership.

To mark the works in the Angidy Valley the partnership has produced a leaflet illustrated with historic photographs and paintings picking out features of interest.

Kate Biggs, of Overlooking the Wye, said the furnace was established in the reign of Elizabeth I at the end of the 16th century and operated until the 19th century.

She added: "It was one of the most important metal-working sites in south Wales and there were a number of firsts here."

Wye Valley officer Andrew Blake said Tintern residents had "desperately" wanted improvements to the Lower Wireworks car park.

He said: "Through Overlooking the Wye not only are we bringing back to life the hidden heritage of the Angidy Valley but the access works have given the community a facility that it wanted."

The Angidy Trail leaflet is one of a series of four that also includes Picturesque Piercefield which follows the route through the viewpoints of the Piercefield estate on the outskirts of Chepstow, the Wordsworth Walk from Llandogo and hillforts around Symonds Yat.

For more information contact Overlooking the Wye on 01600 891526.