page_title: Monmouth
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Monmouth / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: View up Monnow Street, Monmouth
context_page_description: Monmouth is both the historic county town of Monmouthshire in Wales and a community. Situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, 2 miles of the Wales–England border. Monmouth is 30 miles northeast of Cardiff, and 113 miles west of London. It is within the Monmouthshire local authority, and the parliamentary constituency of Monmouth. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8,877 in 2001.
  The town was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium, and became established after the Normans built a castle c. 1067. The medieval stone gated bridge is the only one of its type remaining in Britain. The castle later came into the possession of the House of Lancaster, and was the birthplace of King Henry V in 1386. In 1536, it became the county town of Monmouthshire.
  A market town and a focus of educational and cultural activities for the surrounding rural area, Monmouth has become a tourism centre at the heart of the Wye Valley.
context_section_description: Monmouth developed primarily as a market town, and agricultural centre, rather than as a centre of industry.  The wool industry was important in its early growth, and the town was a centre for the production of the very popular knitted and felted Monmouth caps, from the 15th century onwards. Historically, Monmouth also had iron and tinplate works, together with paper and corn mills. The town was also an important river port, with warehouses and wharves along the Wye later removed for the building of the A40 relief road.
  Monmouth is now primarily a centre for service industries and tourism, and its good road communications have encouraged commuting to larger centres in the West Midlands, South Wales, and Bristol. The Monmouth and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce represents businesses in the town and aims to support and encourage their development.
  The town has a variety of both national and independent shops, most situated along Monnow Street. There are a number of supermarkets, a range of banks and many independent cafes and restaurants. Church Street, a cobbled pedestrianised street, contains craft shops, a book shop, a traditional greengrocer, chemist, coffee shops and restaurants.  Monmouth has been a Fairtrade town since 2005. A regular market takes place close to the Monnow Bridge, and occasionally in the traditional market place in Agincourt Square. There are numerous public houses in the centre of the town, including the Old Nags Head, the Queen's Head, the Punch House, the Griffin, the Gloucester, the Vinetree, the King's Head (Wetherspoon), the Three Horseshoes, the Green Dragon and the Gatehouse.
  
  According to the 2001 census, Monmouth had relatively high proportions of its population working in the retail and wholesale sectors of the economy (19.5%, compared with 16.3% for Wales as a whole), education (11.8%, compared with 8.1% across Wales), and property services (10.8%, compared with 8.5% across Wales).  The proportion working in manufacturing was lower than the average (16.5% compared with 17.3% across Wales), as was the proportion in public administration (4.3% compared with 6.8% across Wales). In terms of occupational groups, the proportion of residents in managerial and professional posts was higher than average (30.1% compared with 22.7% across Wales), and the proportions in administrative and processing work were lower (8.7% in each group, compared with 12.2% and 10.2% respectively across Wales).
caption: Monnow Street, historically the site of the town's market and now its main shopping street
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