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 A BRIEF ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PICTURESQUE SCENERY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 BANKS OF THE WYE 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 ROSS AND CHEPSTOW. 
 
 GLOUCESTER : 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY T. JEW; 
 
 AND TO BE HAD OF C. HOUGH, BOOKSELLER, MONMOUTH. 
 
 1839.
 
 THE WYE. 
 
 PlYNLIMMON, a mountain of South Wales, 
 which is about 2462 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and situate on the verge of Cardiganshire 
 and Montgomeryshire, gives birth to five rivers, 
 the most important of which is the Severn, and 
 the most beautiful the Wye. The sources of 
 the Severn and Wye (like the fountain-heads of 
 those grander streams, the Danube and the 
 Rhine) are close to each other, and, after pur- 
 suing opposite courses, their waters meet, and 
 roll into the ocean together. 
 
 For the beauty and variety of the scenery 
 on its banks, there is no river in England at all 
 comparable with the Wye, nor do we believe, 
 notwithstanding the superiority of some of them 
 in point of size, that there is a single river on 
 the continent of Europe that can boast such 
 scenes of alternate grandeur, gracefulness, and 
 pastoral beauty, — such an uninterrupted suc- 
 cession of exquisite landscapes as occur on 
 
 B 
 
 11097:15
 
 the Wye all the way from Goodrich Castle to 
 Chepstow Castle. For ourselves, we never saw 
 such a continuity of beauty, and the author of 
 the book that goes under the title of the ' Tour of 
 a German Prince,' seems to be pretty much of 
 our opinion. " Never," he says, " was I more 
 convinced than here, that a prophet has no 
 honour in his own country. How else would 
 so many Englishmen travel thousands of miles 
 to fall into extacies at beauties of a very 
 inferior order to these !" 
 
 It is only at a comparatively recent date 
 that the Wye has become at all frequented on 
 account of its scenery. About the middle of 
 last century. Dr. John Egerton, who w as after- 
 wards Bishop of Durham, was collated by his 
 father to the rectory of Ross, in which pleasant 
 town, situate on the bank of the river, and 
 just at the point where the beautiful scenery 
 begins, the doctor resided for nearly thirty years. 
 He was a man of taste, and had a lively enjoy- 
 ment of the pleasures of society amidst the 
 beautiful scenery of his neighbourhood. It was 
 his custom to invite his numerous friends to pay 
 him summer visits at Ross, and then (having 
 built a commodious pleasure boat for that 
 purpose) he introduced them to the " Pleased 
 Vaga echoing through its winding bounds," 
 and conducted his delighted visitants to those 
 beautifid scenes which have since become the
 
 objects of such general admiration ; on his 
 
 departure from Ross lie gave his boat to an old 
 
 and respected servant named John Evans, 
 
 who was called General Evans, and who was 
 
 always his helmsman in these delightful voyages, 
 
 and by whom it was hired to parties making 
 
 excursions as long as it was usable ; after which 
 
 several other boats were built and commodiously 
 
 fitted up for the accommodation of the public. 
 
 The voyage from Ross to Chepstow generally 
 
 occupies tvA-o days. Single boats are of course 
 
 expensive, for the river is in parts so rapid 
 
 that it is a great labour to work a boat up 
 
 again. This alludes to a Steam boat which was 
 
 built for the reception of travellers on the Wye, 
 
 and intended to make two trips a week during 
 
 the summer and autumn months, but from the 
 
 rapidity and shallowness of the stream in many 
 
 parts it was found impossible to work her, and 
 
 the plan was abandoned. This fact sufficiently 
 
 indicates that, like all the best and most 
 
 intellectual of our pleasures and tastes, the love 
 
 of travelling and fine scenery is finding 
 
 its way among the great body of the people. 
 
 Mr. Whately, a writer on landscape gardening, 
 
 and an exquisite critic, directed attention to the 
 
 New Weir, Tintern Abbey, and one or two other 
 
 scenes on its banks ; and in 1770, the Wye was 
 
 visited by the Rev. William Gilpin, who, though 
 
 somewhat of a pedant in art, and not over- 
 
 B 2
 
 6 
 
 correct in his descriptions, did good service to 
 taste and the lovers of nature, hy publishing the 
 account of his tour. The same year a greater 
 name connected itself with the Wye, for it 
 was visited by the immortal author of the 
 * Elegy in a Coiuitry Clmrchyard.' " My last 
 summer's tour," says Gray, in one of his 
 admirable letters, " was through Worcestershire, 
 Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, 
 and Shropshire, five of the most beautiful 
 counties in the kingdom. The very principal 
 light, and capital feature of my journey was the 
 river Wye, which I descended in a boat for near 
 forty miles, from Ross to Chepstow. Its banks 
 are a successio7i of blameless beauties,''^ It may 
 almost be said that the last happy moments 
 Gray knew in this world were spent upon the 
 Wye ; for a few months after we find him a prey 
 to ill health and despondence, complaining of 
 an incurable cough, of the irksomeness of his 
 employment at Cambridge, and of " mechanical 
 low spirits," he died in the course of the follow- 
 ing summer. 
 
 The publication of Gray's correspondence 
 probably attracted more tourists than Gilpin's 
 book, and yet for some years afterwards, a single 
 boat was all that was required. 
 
 On entering the small quiet town of Ross, 
 which is beautifully situate on an eminence close 
 to the left bank of the Wye, everything reminds
 
 US of honest John Kyrle, whom Pope has 
 immortalized, and the eye is attracted to the 
 church and the " heaven-directed spire," to the 
 trees he planted, to the causeway he laid down, 
 and to the rest of his usefnl and honourable 
 labours. Indeed, spending a day at this plea- 
 sant town is like spending a day with the " iMan 
 of Ross" himself, for we are reminded of him 
 which ever way mo turn, and the inhabitants 
 have most religiously cherished his memory, 
 and all the little circumstances and anecdotes 
 relating to him. Near to the decent quiet inn 
 where we stayed, there stands tlie house he built 
 himself and inhabited ; and in the club-room of 
 another little inn in the town, they preserve the 
 good man's arm chair. John Kyrle's fame was 
 acquired by the judicious employment of a 
 small fortune in works of public utility, and 
 those w^orks are fairly set down, and without 
 exaggeration, in Pope's well-known and admi- 
 rable lines, although, as Dr. Johnson observed, 
 it is probable that liis "• five hundred pounds 
 a-year" did not pay for all tliose improvements 
 and charities, but that through his example, 
 his known integrity and active benevolence, his 
 wealthier neighbours were in some instances 
 induced to join their purses Avith his for the 
 public good and the ornament of their town. 
 
 In his time the country round Ross, which 
 in the twelfth century was a forest interspersed
 
 8 
 
 with marshes, and swarming with wild-boars 
 and wolves, was greatly wanting in trees, and 
 Kyrle directed his energies to the supplying of 
 this deficiency. He planted a vast number of 
 elms in the churchyard and glebe, and in the 
 rear of the church he laid out a beautiful avenue 
 which is called Kyrle's Walk. It is on the 
 ridge of a hill, and commands a fine view 
 of the valley, the river, and the hills beyond, 
 and is terminated by a summer house built by 
 him for the accommodation and refreshment of 
 his friends. From the top of the churchyard to 
 this summer house is one mile. On the right, or 
 western side of the church is the celebrated 
 Prospect, it adjoins the churchyard and was 
 walled round and ornamented with three hand- 
 some gateways by Kyrle. In the centre of this 
 piece of ground there was formerly a fountain, 
 into Avhich the Wye water was thrown up by 
 an engine erected by him near the side of the 
 river. A handsome sun dial was also placed on 
 the wall by the same benevolent hand. Since 
 the erection of the Royal Hotel, the northern 
 wall has been taken down and the ground laid 
 out in walks, but it is still open to the public, 
 and the view from the lower part is the admira- 
 of all visitors. It is said of him in King's 
 'Anecdotes,' that he had a singular taste for 
 prospects ; and by a vast plantation of elms, 
 which he disposed of in a fine manner, he has
 
 i) 
 
 made one of the most entertaining scenes the 
 county of Hereford affords. * * * Tliroiigh 
 the midst of the valley below runs the Wye, 
 which seems in no hurry to leave the county ; 
 but like a hare that is unwilling to leave her 
 habitation, makes a hundred turns and doubles." 
 Within the church we were shewn a pew, 
 which is the seat belonging to his farm, called 
 the Cleve, and which lies on the left of the beau- 
 tiful walks leading from the churchyard to the 
 summer house, and in which seat he frequently 
 though not generally sat, for when he came to 
 reside in Ross (at the house which after his 
 death was converted into an inn and called " the 
 King's Arms or Man of Ross's House,") he sat 
 in the seat inuuediately in front of the reading 
 desk, which was appropriated to that house. 
 The other seat when the church was new pewed 
 was left untouched out of respect to his memory, 
 and through a rent in the wainscot and a hole 
 in the flooring of the seat two shoots intro- 
 duced themselves, and are now grown up two 
 beautiful ehns reaching to the ceiling of the 
 church. The history of the affair is this, the 
 Rector of Ross about forty-five years ago, 
 intending to new roof the chancel cut down every 
 other one of the large elms which Mr. Kyrle 
 had planted round the churchyard, and in that 
 part of the ground where bodies had been buried 
 very near them, he (the Rector) had them sawed
 
 10 
 
 off close to the ground, leaving the roots in the 
 earth. One of these trees stood opposite the 
 window under which Kyrle's seat is placed, and 
 though at fifty yards distance, and the space 
 between them very closely occupied by vaults 
 and graves, the roots crept between them, under 
 the foundation of the church, and sprang up in the 
 planter's seat. A very elegant article in blank 
 verse appeared in the Hereford paper about 
 thirty-five years since, in wliich the ancient 
 practice of sanctuary was alluded to. It was 
 stated that when the sacrilegious axe was laid 
 to the parent tree, the children fled for refuge to 
 the church. The legend at all events is pretty, 
 and there are the trees growing in the church, 
 and the light green leaves gracefully extending 
 over the pew, to answer for its veracity. The 
 people who showed us the interior of the church 
 seemed to regard the trees as miraculous and 
 sacred objects, and they will probably be left to 
 grow unmolested in the aisle, until their size 
 becomes inconvenient and requires trimming, 
 
 A very good picture of Kyrle is at the King's 
 Head, which is said to have been taken while 
 he sat at church and is considered a good 
 likeness, a copy of which is placed as a 
 frontispiece to one of Mr. Fosbroke's elegant 
 publications. The bust of King Charles the 2ad, 
 at the end of the Town-Hall, was placed there 
 by Kyrle, and on the side nearly opposite the
 
 u 
 
 Nviudow of his house is a curious old stone, 
 which exhibits an hieroglyphic, the explanation 
 of Mhich expresses his loyalty, and is worth a 
 traveller's notice. A curious old house in the 
 church lane at which it is said Charles 1st slept 
 when at Ross, and a well at which he drank 
 water are also shewn, and a piece of oak pannel- 
 ing, which is said to be part of the King's 
 bedstead, is shewn at the free school founded 
 by Mr. Walter Scott of this town, and is at 
 present part of the master's desk, A picture of 
 this benevolent individual may be seen at the 
 school, With the letter he wrote expressive of his 
 intention to found the school. He may very 
 properly be called the second Man of Ross ; he 
 was a poor boy educated at a charity school in 
 the town, which had fallen into decay, and 
 grateful for the benefit he received, he founded 
 a school for clothing and educating thirty boys 
 and twenty girls. A very singidar vine, the 
 branches of which though springing from the 
 same root, bear leaves quite different, may be 
 seen in front of this house. 
 
 In Pope's time John Kyrle lay ** without a 
 monument, inscription stone," butin 1776 Lady 
 Betty Duplin left a sum of money for the pur- 
 pose, and his name is now recorded in a simple 
 inscription, but in gold letters, on a marble 
 tablet, over which is placed that other doubtful 
 adjunct of monumental fame, a tolerably *' bad
 
 12 
 
 bust." The memory of honest John did not 
 require these things to preserve it, but they will 
 do it no harm, and they proceeded from laudable 
 motives. 
 
 In the corner of the churchyard there is an 
 old stone cross commemorating the ravages of 
 the plague, — that fearful disorder from which 
 we have been so long exempt. 
 
 From the pleasant town of Ross we des- 
 cended the Wye in one of the small row-boats 
 kept for that purpose. A little below the town, 
 on the right bank of the river, stand the ruins 
 of Wilton Castle. The manor of Wilton 
 was given by the Empress Maud, to Milo Earl 
 of Hereford. The present castle was built in 
 1141, and is mentioned by Geraldus Cambrensis. 
 William Lord Grey (whose ancestors became 
 possessed of the property by the marriage of 
 Reginald Grey with Maud the daughter and 
 heiress of Henry de Longo Campo,) had been 
 taken prisoner in defending Calais, and was 
 obliged to sell most of his estates to obtain his 
 ransom. Accordingly in 1576, Lord Gilbert 
 Talbot then residing at Goodrich offered £6000 
 for Wilton and its annexations, but it does not 
 appear that he succeeded for Elizabeth daughter 
 of Lord Grey de Wilton (who died in 1559) was 
 wife of Lord Chandos, whose second son Charles 
 resided here, as well as James the Magnificient 
 Duke, who built Cannons. In consequence of
 
 =J 
 
 ^
 
 13 
 
 some political disappoiiitiiient^ it was sold to 
 the Governors of Guy's Hospital, in whose 
 possession it now remains. The South West 
 tower appears to have undergone no change, 
 when the other part of the building was altered 
 to the style of other castellated mansions of the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 Leaving Wilton Castle, a few yards lower 
 down, the Wye passes under Wilton Bridge, 
 the arches and piers of which are of curious 
 construction, and were first built at the end of 
 the sixteenth century. At the time of our 
 passage, which was early in the month of June, 
 we found such a deficiency of water about two or 
 three miles below the bridge, that even our little 
 boat grounded. So far, and indeed for a mile or 
 two farther, the scenery of the Wye, including the 
 view of Ross, wdth its steeple, its terraces, and 
 trees, is only pretty and graceful ; but, on 
 approaching Goodrich Castle, it becomes bolder 
 and grander. On either side, the banks begin 
 to rise into lofty precipices, or wooded hills, of 
 the noblest forms ; and the sudden turns and 
 windings of the stream every minute bring 
 unexpected and startling objects in sight, and 
 give a new aspect and character to the features 
 of the scene already passed. At the very point 
 where a massy ivy-covered ruin and an antique- 
 looking castellated building are most desirable, 
 
 we find the ruins of (Toodrich Castle. This 
 
 c 2
 
 14 
 
 castle before the addition of the round tower 
 was merely a keep, with low buildings in the 
 house form annexed to it, whose pointed ends 
 or gables, where walling has been raised upon 
 them, distinctly appeared. After the conquest 
 it descended to William Earl Marshall who 
 died in 1219, leaving five sons who died child- 
 less and five daughters heirs to their brothers. 
 In the reign of Edward III. it became the 
 property of Richard Lord Talbot who greatly 
 repaired and improved it. Another improve- 
 ment appears to have been made by Gilbert, 
 the eldest brother of John the famous Earl of 
 Shrewsbury who dwelt here in the fifteenth 
 century. It is said that Lord Talbot of Goodrich 
 was slain at Agincourt, in the reign of 
 Henry V. The Talbots had another castle at 
 Penyard about four miles distant, but Goodrich 
 was their chief dwelling. The ferry, which is 
 about half-a-mile from the castle, was once called 
 a royal ferry, and it is said to have been given 
 by Henry IV. to the ferryman as a reward for 
 informing him of the birth of his son Henry 
 V. of Monmouth. The original grant is said 
 to have been in the possession of Mrs. Clarke of 
 the Hill. 
 
 The ascent to the old castle, from the bed of 
 the river, is steep : but the path lies, for the best 
 part, through a pleasant wood, and every resting- 
 place offers a delightful view. The castle itself
 
 4 
 'J 
 
 N 
 
 rh,
 
 15 
 
 presents grand and imposing- masses of masonry 
 of diflcrent periods of architecture. The keep, 
 which is the most ancient part, is in the Saxon 
 style ; but there are evident signs of alterations 
 and improvements of a much later age ; and, in 
 other parts of the building, which seems to have 
 been successively enlarged, we trace the Tudor 
 style. The history of the place is not well pre- 
 served, but there was a castle here (consisting 
 probably of the keep and little else) before the 
 Norman Conquest, and the last additions to it 
 should seem to have been made in the time of 
 Henry VII. During the great civil war, it was 
 the scene of desperate contention. It was 
 occupied in the first instance for the parliament, 
 but was afterwards seized and garrisoned for 
 Charles I. by Sir Richard Lingen. It was re- 
 taken by the parliamentarians under Colonel 
 Birch, after some hard fighting, atthebeginninj^ 
 of August, 1646. During the siege, it suffered 
 considerably from the mortar-pieces, granadoes, 
 and " the great iron culverin" of the assailants, 
 and, in the month of March following, it was 
 ordered by parliament, "that Goodrich Castle 
 should be totally disgarrisoned and slighted," 
 (i. e. destroyed). From the immense, and in 
 some parts almost perfect masses that remain, 
 we may judge that the people employed on this 
 work of dcstniction were sparing of their labour 
 and gunpowder ; and we are happy that it should
 
 16 
 
 have been so, as tlicy have left us a tine ruin, — 
 just ruined enough to be picturesque, and suffi- 
 ciently entire to attract and gratify curiosity in 
 the examination of its arrangement and details. 
 Whether seen from the water below or from the 
 hill-side, being taken in connexion with the 
 river, the woods, and the rocks, it is a beautiful 
 object. From the battlements of one of the 
 towers there is a glorious view. 
 
 A romantic winding path leads from the old 
 castle to Goodrich Court, which buildings is said 
 to be strictly copied in all its parts from original 
 specimens of the architecture which prevailed 
 from the close of the reign of Edward I. to the 
 commencement of that of Edward III. In the 
 interior. Sir Samuel Meyrick's valuable col- 
 lection of old armour is arranged in the happiest 
 manner in a spacious hall, and each apartment 
 is furnished and fitted up in the style prevalent 
 at one particular period of our history. The 
 house, which is by far the most perfect thing of 
 its kind in England, is freely shown, upon 
 application to its accomplished owner ; and as 
 its style and contents harmonize with the scenery 
 of the Wye, and the old historical associations 
 upon its banks, the tourist will do well to visit 
 it on his way. If he be fond of antiquarian 
 pursuits, Sir Samuel's large and valuable col- 
 lection of British antiquities, arranged with the 
 most perfect taste and knowledge, will afford 
 him singular pleasure.
 
 (S 
 
 N 
 
 e
 
 17 
 
 On returning to our boat we gently glided 
 down the winding river, through scenes of con- 
 stantly changing and increasing beauty and 
 magnificence For some time Goodrich Castle 
 remained a prominent feature in the landscape, 
 for the Wye here makes a remarkably bold 
 sweep, going completely round the wooded head- 
 land, and returning, as it were, upon the castle 
 in another direction. Another sudden turn 
 brings us full in view of the magnificent forest of 
 Dean, and the romantic spire of Ruar-Dean 
 Church rising among the trees. Here both banks 
 are lofty and steep, and both woody ; but the 
 woods on the left bank are intermingled with 
 rocks. Villages in the most beautiful situations, 
 rural churches, and scattered cottages, now 
 begin to peep more frequently from the hills 
 upon the river that reflects and multiplies them. 
 The village of Lidbroke, where coals are occa- 
 sionally sliipped for Ross and Hereford, has an air 
 of business and bustle, but all is again tranquil 
 on reaching Courtfield and Welsh Bicknor 
 Church. 
 
 Two miles below Welsh Bicknor, on the 
 left bank of the Wye, and in Gloucestershire, 
 there is another village, called English Bicknor, 
 and near to that point the sublime rocks of 
 Col dwell present themselves with w^onderful 
 effect. Near this spot on the right bank is the 
 monument or cenotaph of an unfortunate youth
 
 18 
 
 named Warre, who behig persuaded ])y his 
 parents, who were making a voyage to Chepstow, 
 to bathe, was seized with the cramp and died 
 ahnost within sight of his agonized friends, his 
 body was immediately taken from the water by 
 the boatmen, but life was extinct. He was 
 buried at Monmouth. 
 
 Here the tourist shoidd leave his boat, 
 landing on the left side of the river, and he will 
 find a delightful walk up the Cold well Rocks, 
 in the course of which the views of the surround- 
 ing scenery are most romantic and beautiful, and 
 on arriving at the top will find himself on that 
 noble eminence called Symond's Yat or Gate. 
 The extent of the walk is little more than a mile, 
 and while he is performing it the boat proceeds 
 to NewWeir a distance by water of nearly seven 
 miles, and while he is resting himself on the 
 cliff he will see his boat drop her anchor at the 
 foot of the hill at New Weir, down to which 
 from the top of the hill is about one mile. 
 Symond's Ytit is about five hundred feet above 
 the river Wye, and is said to have been a Roman 
 station, and occupied by Ostorius in his invasion 
 of this part, while, on the opposite side of the 
 river, on the top of the great Doward is the station 
 said to have been occupied by the British chief 
 Caractacus. It is impossible to give an adequate 
 idea of the beautiful scenery from this delightful 
 spot: it may be called fairy land, and the tourist
 
 -TTT^r- 
 
 
 
 E3
 
 19 
 
 will find himself richly repaid for the fatigue of 
 his walk. We will briefly notice a few objects 
 which present themselves. On the North, the 
 momitainous side of Copped Wood Hill and 
 common, interspersed with rocks. North West, 
 the spire and village of Goodrich, with the Rock- 
 lands, a neat mansion the residence of H. Ross, 
 Esq., at the foot. West, Huntsholm Farm, the 
 property of W. Vaughan, Esq., late of Courtfield, 
 and the village of Whitchurch. In the distance, 
 the hills of Malvern, &c. South West, wild 
 scenery without wood, the mountainous side of 
 the great Doward, common and heath, inter- 
 spersed with cottages and inclosures. South, 
 Staunton church on the brow of the hill, with 
 the Buck-stone just beyond it ; below, the beau- 
 tiful woods of the High-meadow estate, with 
 green meadows down to the river. The rocks 
 of New Weir appear on the left, and those of 
 the Eastern side of the Doward on the right, 
 this scenery is extremely grand. South East, 
 English Bicknor, cultivation intermixed with 
 forest scenery, copse and cottage, with the 
 grand and terrific rocks of Coldwell, in fine per- 
 spective. East, Ruardean church, woods and 
 fields in the distance, with Bishop's wood and 
 Courtfield. A very beautiful and extensive 
 view. 
 
 Descending from this grand height we came 
 to the New Weir, where the river assumed 
 
 D
 
 20 
 
 another character. Hitherto it had moved with 
 a tolerably slow, quiet pace, but here it roared 
 and foamed over a bed of rocks, and became 
 for some hundreds of yards a rapid or a succes- 
 sion of little falls. The scenery, particularly on 
 the left bank, assumes its grandest characters. 
 " These,'" says the German tourist, " are craggy 
 and weatherbeaten walls of sandstone, of gigantic 
 dimension, perpendicular, or overhanging, pro- 
 jecting abruptly from amid oaks, and hung with 
 rich festoons of ivy. The rain and storms of 
 ages have beaten and M^ashed them into such 
 fantastic forms, that they appear like some 
 caprice of human art. Castles and towers, 
 amphitheatres and fortifications, battlements 
 and obelisks, mock the wanderer, who fancies 
 himself transported into the ruins of a city of 
 some extinct race. Some of these picturesque 
 masses are at times loosened by the action of 
 the weather, and fall thundering from rock to 
 rock, with a terrific plunge into the river." 
 
 During the latter half of the trip from 
 Symond's Yat to Monmouth, rocks and sublimity 
 give place to more gentle declivities, and to mild 
 beauties that partake of the pastoral character. 
 Cattle were sprinkled on green ledges above the 
 river : in some places the meadows shelved 
 down to the brink, allowing the cOws to stand 
 and cool themselves in the stream, and flocks of 
 white sheep lent beauty and poetry to the middle
 
 MI 
 
 ti3 

 
 21 
 
 distance. The whole valley of the river more- 
 over opened, the hills receded, and the river 
 made longer reaches. The sun was setting 
 when we came in sight of the bridge and town 
 of Monmouth, and then the Wye lay before us 
 like a broad path of burnished gold. We had 
 spent a long summer's day between Ross and 
 the last-named town, and can most cordially 
 recommend every lover of Nature, who has it in 
 his power, to do the same thing at least once in 
 his life. 
 
 Monmouth, "delightsome Monmouth," is 
 another quiet, romantic town, which seemed to 
 us, what the poet Gray declared it to be, " the 
 delight of the eye and the very seat of pleasure." 
 It stands near the conflux of the Monnow with 
 the Wye, on a gently-rising ground, that throws 
 out the houses like the seats of an amphitheatre, 
 and gives a fine elevated platform for the church 
 with its tall steeple. It is surrounded by smiling 
 declivities and gently-swelling hills, that are 
 mostly covered from the Avater's edge to the 
 summit with pleasant little woods, or laid out in 
 corn-fields or pasture-meadows. The interior 
 of picturesque towns is not always the most 
 comfortable. Monmouth, however, has a broad 
 and handsome street, a capacious market-place, 
 and seems clean and neat throughout. The 
 i;emains of the priory, with an apartment they 
 
 pretend was the study of that splendid romancer 
 
 D 2
 
 22 
 
 (once taken for an historian) Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, the old Saxon church of St. Thomas, 
 near the Monnow Bridge, and particularly the 
 low, sombre, round-arched interior of that 
 church, will agreeably occupy an hour or two 
 within the town. As for the castle, it is gone — 
 the last of its tottering walls fell down suddenly 
 some years. In his time, Gilpin said of it, 
 " The transmutations of time are often ludicrous. 
 Monmouth Castle was formerly the palace of a 
 king and the birthplace of a mighty prince ; it is 
 now converted into a yard for fatting ducks." 
 But as we found it, this royal pile scarcely 
 afforded room for Gilpin's antithesis, the walls 
 not being sufficient even to restrain the wander- 
 ings of a fatted duck. Against one dislocated 
 bit of a wall a shed had been erected for the 
 stabling of cart-horses and asses. 
 
 From the summit of the Kymin rock, 
 which rises on the left bank of the Wye, and is 
 situated partly in Monmouthshire and partly in 
 Gloucestershire, there is another extensive and 
 beautiful view, of a totally different character 
 from that obtained on Symond's Yat. This 
 variety, indeed, is one of the great charms of 
 the Wye. From Ross to the river's mouth, the 
 character of the scenery is scarcely ever the 
 same for a quarter of a mile. On the centre of 
 the Kymin, overhanging the town of Monmouth 
 and the river, there is a circular pavilion, like
 
 23 
 
 an embattled tower, which is made easy of access 
 by means of a walk which winds gently up the 
 acclivity. 
 
 When we embarked the next day below 
 Monmouth Bridge, a glorious summer's sun 
 lighted up all the scenery, and made it indeed 
 look like a holiday spot of earth. A little below 
 the town, the Monnow flows into the Wye with 
 a full stream. For some distance the banks are 
 low, and fine green meadows shelve from the 
 hills to the water-side ; and then the banks 
 again become bold, rocks protrude, and woods 
 appear on either side. Troy House, with a 
 solemn forest near it, the romantic church of 
 Penalt, the scattered village of Red-brook, with 
 its iron-forges and its tin-works. White-brook, 
 with its paper-mills, Pen-y^van Hill, Big's Weir 
 House, with the church and the ruins of the 
 castle of St. Briaval in the distance, are 
 among the beautiful features of this changing 
 picture. In some parts the bed of the river is 
 roughened and straitened by shelves and pro- 
 jecting rocks, which produce ripples, and, here 
 and there, miniature falls and rapids. A barge 
 or two, making their way against the stream, 
 had to tack and manoeuvre in a curious manner. 
 In several places these shelves of rock lie right 
 across the river, like artificial weirs, having very 
 little water over them. At Big's Weir, where 
 the current is very rapid, the river eddies over
 
 24 
 
 fragments of rocks, which leave only a narrow 
 open space for the passage of boats. Near to 
 this place a new and very graceful bridge, called 
 Big's-weir Bridge, spans the river with a single 
 arch. The road from Chepstow to Monmouth, 
 which runs partly on one side of the river, and 
 partly on the other, is connected by this bridge. 
 From this point a fine bold reach, with Tidden- 
 ham-Chase Hill rising nobly in front, leads to 
 the lovely hamlet of Landogo, which is situated 
 on a small plain, on the right bank, tufted with 
 woods, and backed by an amphitheatre of lofty 
 hills. The little church peeps out beautifully 
 from amidst the trees upon the river, which 
 there forms a smooth and capacious bay. About 
 two hundred yards from the river side, in a very 
 romantic wood is a beautiful walk called Cleddon 
 shoots. The tourist will see as he approaches 
 Landogo, a deep ravine on the right hand, ex- 
 tending from the top to the bottom of the hill, 
 through which runs a brook. A very beautiful 
 walk has been formed from the cottage at the 
 foot to the summit of this hill, in the course of 
 which are several seats and rustic bridges, and 
 at the top two commodious alcoves present them- 
 selves, near to which is a very pretty water-fall. 
 The views from the different seats are beautiful, 
 and parties may be accommodated with tea at 
 the Moss Cottage below, and also if required with 
 a guide through the walks. Taken altogether, 
 this is one of the prettiest scenes upon the Wye.
 
 ■ "m 
 
 
 
 
 F9 
 
 a 
 ^
 
 25 
 
 Below this point the Wye becomes a tide- 
 river, and loses one of its great beauties, which 
 is the purity and transparency of its waters. 
 
 Coedithel Weir, a large and rapid fall of 
 the water, next occurs, and about a mile below 
 on the left bank of the river, is Brook Weir a 
 very populous hamlet, and one of those little 
 ports, from whence large quantities of corn, 
 timber, hoops, and faggots, are shipped for 
 Bristol. One or two vessels were on the stocks ; 
 and the sound of the ship-builder's adze and 
 hammer rang cheerfully and almost musically 
 from the bank. A number of white, comfort- 
 able-looking cottages and elegant little villas, 
 scattered about the hills in the neighbourhood, 
 prove the prosperity of the place. At this place 
 it is advisable to land on the Brockweir side of 
 the river, and walk about half a mile. The path 
 leads a little to the left from the river, through 
 a wood to an eminence, at the top of which you 
 suddenly emerge from the wood, when the most 
 beautiful view of the abbey and village of Tin- 
 tern lies at your foot. The boat, as at Cold well, 
 makes a circuit of three or four miles through a 
 part of the country by no means interesting, and, 
 by the time you have enjoyed the view, will be 
 ready on the other side to ferry you over to the 
 magnificent abbey, which Sir R. C. Hoare 
 declares exceeds every ruin he had seen, either 
 in England or Wales. The chronicle of Tintern
 
 26 
 
 Abbev states that William Fitzosbert, Earl of Owe 
 in Normandy, was presented by the Conqueror, 
 with the manors of Woollaston and Tiddenham, 
 for the maintenance of a garrison and forces, 
 to effect conquests over the Welsh. He left a son 
 Richard who had the same privileges. Richard 
 had issue Walter, who after his ancestors and 
 himself had acquired all Netherwent and half of 
 Gwent, founded Tintern Abbey, in the year 1131, 
 Walter died in 1 132 one year after the foundation, 
 and was succeeded by Gilbert, (his brother and 
 heir) Earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, 
 who died and was buried here in 1148. He 
 was succeeded by his son Richard who died in 
 1178, leaving a daughter Isabella who married 
 William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, who was 
 buried at the Temple, in London, in 1219. This 
 William Marshall in his confirmation charter, 
 dated 7th Henry III. mentions donations of his 
 ancestors, and other founders and donors, as 
 also the gift of Trellick, a druidical spot, by 
 Gilbert and Richard Strongbow. Matilda the 
 eldest daughter of the before-named William 
 Marshall, married Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk 
 and Suffolk, by whom she had a son, named 
 Hugh, who was the father of Roger Bigot, by 
 whom, William of Worcester asserts, (from the 
 abbey obituary) the abbey church of Tintern 
 was built, and consecrated for divine service in 
 1287. There is reason to think that though
 
 1/ i^lr-f, '^/ 
 
 &; 
 
 5
 
 27 
 
 begun ill the time of Walter, the completion was 
 by Roger Bigot, at the date above-mentioned. 
 The Western window, under which is the door, 
 is still perfect, the pattern of which is most 
 elegant, and beautifully adorned with ivy, but 
 the Eastern window, though its general form is 
 complete, the frame is much delapidated, it 
 occupies the whole breadth of the choir, and is 
 divided into two equal parts, by a slender stone 
 shaft, not less than fifty feet in height. When 
 the door of the abbey is thrown open, the effect 
 is grand and beautiful beyond description. The 
 guide will point out the particular spots, from 
 which the best views of the interior are obtained, 
 and also direct the visitor to the stairs, which will 
 enable him to reach the summit of the building, 
 from whence are extensive views of the surround- 
 ing country. On leaving the abbey, on the 
 opposite side of the road stands a building called 
 Saint Anne's chapel, where a grate and chairs 
 said to have belonged to Ragland Castle are 
 she^vn, with several other antiquities interesting to 
 a traveller. In the year 610, Ceolwulph, King of 
 Wessex, attacked the Britons in Glamorganshire. 
 Theodorick or Teudric, the King of Glamorgan 
 had resigned the throne to his son Maurice, or 
 Meuric, and led an hermitical life among the 
 Rocks, at Dindyrn, his former subjects believing 
 him to be invincible, dragged the royal hermit 
 from his retreat, and placing him at their head, 
 
 E
 
 28 
 
 the Pagan Saxons were routed at Tintern with 
 great loss, but in the conflict, the poor old king 
 received his death wound, and finding his end 
 approaching he desired that his body should be 
 buried, and a church built on the spot where he 
 should happen to die. This event took place 
 three days after the battle, at Mathern, near 
 Chepstow, where Bishop Godwin says " he saw 
 his remains in a stone coffin in 1687, upwards 
 of a thousand years after his interment, at 
 Avhich time the bones were entire, the skull 
 retaining the aperture of a large wound, which 
 appeared as fresh as if lately inflicted." The 
 name Tintern is said to be derived from Din, a 
 fortress, and Teyrn a sovereign, and it is probable 
 the present abbey was founded on the very site 
 of the retreat of Theodorick, for it is worth notice 
 that the parish (Chapel-hill) is divided into two 
 villages, that part where the inn is situate being 
 called Abbey, and the lower part near the convent 
 the Old Abbey. From hence arises a pre- 
 sumption that the first monastery, founded by 
 Walter de Clare in 1131, was begun near the 
 inn : but that Roger Bigot, in whose time the 
 present fabric was built, removed it to the site 
 of the old abbey. At the dissolution the number 
 of inmates was thirteen, when the estates were 
 according to Dugdale 192Z. \s. 3d. per annum. 
 Speed states the value at 252Z. lis. 6d. It 
 was granted in the 28th of Henry VIII. to Henry
 
 29 
 
 Earl of Worcester, and is now the property of 
 the Duke of Beaufort. The inside of the ruin 
 was cleared out in 1756, by order of its proprietor 
 the Duke of Beaufort, since which period it has 
 been kept in good order, but more especially 
 within the last thirty years, where under the 
 judicious and tasteful management of the late 
 lamented Arthur Wyatt, Esq., every obstacle 
 was removed, and every facility granted for the 
 accommodation of visitors to this beautiful ruin. 
 The ivy especially on the right side of the nave, 
 clusters in a manner which no scenes of the kind 
 ever surpassed, perhaps never equalled. The 
 grand back ground, seen through the East win- 
 dow, is truly sublime. It was stripped of its 
 lead in the wars of Charles I. The length of 
 the church is two hundred and twenty-eight feet, 
 its breadth one hundred and fifty feet. A large 
 manufactory of wire is carried on in the village, 
 which is well worth inspection. Had the Wye 
 nothing else to boast of than Tintern Abbey 
 and Chepstow Castle, which the German tourist 
 declares to be "the most beautiful ruins in the 
 world," it ought to attract travellers, and par- 
 ticularly English travellers, from far and near. 
 
 On continuing our voyage, saturated with 
 scenic beauty as we were, we hardly expected 
 to be again thrilled, or roused into enthusiasm, 
 by anything else ; but the windings of this 
 
 wonderful river soon brought us in sight of 
 
 E 2
 
 30 
 
 objects as grand as, and totally different from, 
 any we had seen ; and from Tintern to Chepstow 
 our admiration was scarcely left idle for a single 
 moment. In fact, though Gilpin and most of the 
 guide-books pass slightingly over it, and though 
 it is the fashion to recommend tourists to neglect 
 it, we question whether any part of the Wye is 
 grander than the last part of its course, particu- 
 larly when the river is full, the sludgy shores 
 covered, the tide just on the ebb, and the sun 
 declining. Here it presents some of the most 
 remarkable of its sudden turns and windings, 
 now making long, narrow promontories on this 
 side, and now on that, and washing in short 
 reaches, the bases of tremendous precipices of 
 bare, strangely-coloured rock. A little below 
 Tintern, we passed under Banagor Crags, a long, 
 lofty, perpendicular, and most sublime rampart, 
 bare as a wall except where a few shrubs shoot 
 out, — opposite to which the river is skirted by 
 narrow slips of rich pasture rising into wooded 
 acclivities, on which abruptly towers the Wynd- 
 cliff, a nearly perpendicular mass of rock rudely 
 overhung with thickets, stated to be eight hundred 
 feet high. At this place the Wye turns suddenly 
 round the fertile, smiling peninsula of Lancaut, 
 having the stupendous amphitheatre of Pierce- 
 field Cliffs on the right bank. The little penin- 
 sula, sloping down from Tiddenham Chase, ends 
 in pleasant meadows and flats, where a few
 
 
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 SST" 
 
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 53 
 
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 el
 
 31 
 
 cottages and a church show themselves. The 
 opposite cliffs start up from the water's edge, 
 looking like enormous buttresses, and here and 
 there throwing out bold, fantastic projections. 
 Twelve of these projecting rocks have been 
 christened by the country people " The Twelve 
 Apostles," and a thirteenth, which points towards 
 the sky, and has a rude resemblance in shape to 
 a thumb, they call *' St. Peter's Thumb." The 
 summit and edge of these cliffs are fringed with 
 the noble woods and plantations of Piercefield ; 
 and, as we passed them, approaching evening 
 had shed the most beautiful harmonizing shades 
 and hues on their rough sides. Presently the 
 river again turns, and then the grand ruins of 
 Chepstow Castle rising from the very edge of lofty 
 precipices, the bridge, and part of the pictu- 
 resque town of Chepstow, present themselves in 
 almost magical combination. The ruins look more 
 like the remains of a city than of a single castle, 
 and, under certain lights, the eye looking up- 
 wards from the river does not readily distinguish 
 them from the cliffs on which they stand, or 
 perceive where the rocks end and the walls begin. 
 Passing under the new iron-bridge, which 
 is not " elegant, light, and airy," as the guide- 
 books style it, but massive and grand, we found 
 ourselves in Chepstow harbour, which was 
 crowded with shipping. There we landed, and 
 left the river, which falls into the noble estuary 
 of the Severn about two miles farther on.
 
 32 
 
 Archdeacon Coxe says that he had seldom 
 visited any town, whose picturesque situation 
 surpassed that of Chepstow, and Mr. Wyndham 
 asserts, that the beauties are so uncommonly 
 excellent, that the most exact critic in landscape 
 would scarcely wish to alter a single position, 
 in the assemblage of woods, cliffs, ruin and 
 water. The first object of course is the castle, 
 crowning the whole length of a projecting rock, 
 and is a very fine ruin. It is mentioned in 
 Doomsday book under the name of Estbrighoel 
 or Striguil, and was built by William Fitzos- 
 born, Earl of Hereford, out of the ruins of the 
 adjacent Caerwent, or Venta Silurum, but this 
 building was nearly all taken down and rebuilt, 
 in the thirteenth century. The form of this 
 castle is a parallelogram, upon a tongue of land 
 consisting of various courts or baileys, flanked 
 on the land side, by an enormous ditch and town 
 wall, and on the other side by the Wye. " As 
 we advanced, says Mr. Barber, towards the 
 massive battlements of Chepstow's ancient castle, 
 the grand entrance, which is a Norman arch 
 flanked by circular towers, reminded us of the 
 repulsive gloom of feudal reserve and violence. 
 Even the knocker was emblematic of hostility : 
 for we thundered at the portal for admission 
 with a cannon-ball suspended by a chain. The 
 warder of the castle did not wind his horn, in 
 reply, nor raising himself on the ramparts, did
 
 e 
 
 iff-- 
 
 tg 
 
 wa 
 
 © 
 
 
 a 
 

 
 33 
 
 he demand our quality and business, but a 
 smiling damsel, conjuring up all her rosy dimples, 
 caused the gate to revolve on its creaking hinges 
 and welcomed us to the castle." 
 
 Fosbroke says, " within this door is the 
 original wicket, about three feet high, and only 
 eighteen inches broad, and is cut so as to leave 
 a very high step, it is even smaller than a coach 
 door." It is supposed to stand on five acres of 
 ground, and consists of three courts, the second 
 of which is now a kitchen garden. The chapel 
 was formerly one of the most curious parts of the 
 castle, it measures twenty yards long by ten 
 yards wide. It has been cleared of thorns and 
 rubbish, and may be viewed without incon- 
 venience. Mr. Williams, speaking of the chapel, 
 says " This is not the usual style of such a 
 building." The windows, arches, and other deco- 
 rated parts, were extremely rich and in the 
 finest Gothic taste. There are however several 
 traces of plain Saxon arches filled up in the wall, 
 which indicate a higher antiquity then the 
 general decorations of the castle. These arches 
 are supposed by ecclesiastical antiquaries to 
 have held the statutes of the twelve apostles, and 
 by military antiquaries to have been filled by 
 those of the twelve knights, who accompanied 
 Fitzosborn in the conquest of Glamorgan. 
 A stratum of Roman brick may be observed in 
 this wall, which Sir H. Englefield supposes to
 
 34 
 
 have been brought from the ruins of Caerwent 
 by the Saxons. The ramparts, which extend 
 along the South wall of the castle, are passed on 
 a commodious walk from one end to the other, 
 and terminate at the summit of the keep. Here, 
 and at many other parts of the walk, the tra- 
 veller will look down with timidity on the Wye, 
 rolling its swelling tide at an immense distance, 
 immediately below him, while at other parts 
 the stately mansion of Piercefield with its green 
 waving hills rise in all their peculiar grandeur, 
 and terminate the view. We cannot quit this 
 grand and interesting ruin, without noticing a 
 man of some celebrity in his day, and who was 
 a prisoner in this fortress twenty-seven years. 
 His name was Henry Marten, one of the judges 
 who signed the death-warrant of Charles I. and 
 who died the 9th of September, 1680, aged 78, 
 and was buried in the church of Chepstow. 
 
 Twenty-seven years in a dungeon has an 
 awful sound, suggesting the notion of an incalcu- 
 lable amount of human suffering, and therefore 
 we were glad to see that Harry Marten's tower 
 was not the horrible place the poet Southey once 
 described it to be ; and to recall to our minds 
 the well-authenticated fact, that during his 
 latter years his confinement was very mild, 
 and the whole treatment of him considerate and 
 merciful. His apartment, instead of being cold 
 and dark, never admitting '' the sun's delightful
 
 35 
 
 beams," had three windows and two fire-places. 
 His wife was allowed to live with him, and over 
 the good-sized room he occupied there was 
 another room for his domestics. The ceiling and 
 floor that separated them are now fallen in. 
 
 Leaving the castle, by the way he entered 
 it, the traveller is recommended to visit two 
 curious springs. Tiie first near the bridge, and 
 from which a great portion of the town is supplied 
 with water, is attended with a curious phenome- 
 non, it ebbs and flows with the tide ; at high- 
 water the well is nearly full, at half-ebb it 
 decreases till low-water and becomes almost 
 empty, when the tide begins to flow, the supply 
 returns. About fifty yards distance is another 
 well, which exhibits a contrary effect, when 
 the tide is at its lowest ebb, it frequently contains 
 twelve or fourteen feet of water, and as the flood 
 tide comes in, it decreases until high- water, 
 when it becomes quite empty, this spring is in 
 the garden of a house in Bridge-street. The 
 water in both wells is exceeding good, and the 
 quantity is not affected either by dry or wet 
 seasons. The next object of attention is the 
 church, which was formerly an Alien Priory of 
 Benedictine Monks, to the Abbey of Cormeil, in 
 Normandy, as early as the reign of Stephen. 
 It w^as founded by one of the Lords of Chepstow 
 castle, and one of the Monks performed service 
 in the chapel of the castle thrice in every week.
 
 36 
 
 It was dedicated to Saint Mary. A priory 
 remained here until the dissolution when it had 
 three religieux, and was valued according to Dug- 
 dale at 32/. and by Speed at 3-2Z. 4^. per 
 annum. The church consists of a nave and 
 chancel, with two narrow side aisles, the entrance 
 at the west front is a magnificent portal in high 
 preservation, richly decorated in the Saxon and 
 early Norman style. The church contains a 
 monument to the Earl and Countess of Worces- 
 ter, another to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Shipman, and under a flat-stone in one of ths 
 aisles, lies the body of Henry Marten, on which 
 stone is an epitaph, said to have been written 
 by himself. Besides the Church, there is a 
 Baptist, Independent, Westleyan and Catholic 
 Chapels. At the upper part of the town, is one 
 of the old town gates in tolerable preseiTation. 
 It was formerly used as a prison. It is said that 
 the earliest charter given to Chepstow, was that 
 of Howell Dhu, Prince of South Wales, and that 
 the charter of Henry VIII., which is now called 
 the Chepstow charter, was only the confirmation 
 of prior grants. There are many things in the 
 town and neighbourhood of Chepstow, well wor- 
 thy the notice of the stranger, such as the bridge, 
 the docks, the yards, where ships of large dimen- 
 sions are always on the stocks, and the views 
 from the cliffs on each side the river. In 
 January 1738, the water rose at Chepstow
 
 37 
 
 bridge, upwards of seventy feet. The depth of 
 water in the river, is sufficient for ships of eight, 
 hundred tons to ride at anchor at low- water in 
 perfect safety, there is also a spacious dock, 
 into and out of which they are wafted by a rise 
 of tide, of from thirty to sixty feet, and at the 
 equinoxes it sometimes rises seventy feet, but 
 this is a very rare occurrence. 
 
 From the woods and plantations, which cover 
 a bold, broken ground, and run close to the edge 
 of the cliffs, the eye commands some of the finest 
 views in England ; and these views are varied 
 at almost every step by the windings of the path, 
 the changing foreground, — now of jagged rocks, 
 now of majestic trees, — and by otlier accidents 
 of elevation or depression. The guide-books 
 set down by name nine particular points, each 
 of which is furnished with benches or rustic 
 seats, but there are twenty more almost equally 
 fine. Looking across and up the river, we saw 
 under a different aspect much of the grand rock- 
 and-cliff scenery we had passed the day before ; 
 and, in the earlier part of the walk, on looking 
 down the river, or to the East, the towers of 
 Chepstow castle, — the town, — the bridge, — the 
 shipping, — the red cliffs on the Gloucestershire 
 Wye, — a ridge of hills which conceals the 
 mouth of the river, and then the broad estuary 
 beyond it, — all stood out in most picturesque 
 effect.
 
 3B 
 
 The voyage from Ross to Chepstow, should 
 occupy t\Y0 days, the first night to be spent at 
 Monmouth, the second at Chepstow. On the 
 morning of the third day, to make the trip com- 
 plete, the tourist should leave Chepstow for 
 Piercefield, and after walking through that beau- 
 tiful estate, he will find himself again in the 
 turnpike-road near St. Arvan's turnpike, through 
 which he will pass and walk to the top of the 
 Wyndclifi*. This is the last grand scene of the 
 Piercefield sublime drama ; it is not only mag- 
 nificent, but it is so novel, that it excites an in- 
 voluntary start of astonishment. Fosbrokesays 
 *'what a cathedral is among churches, Wynd- 
 cliff*is among prospects." " There is (says Reed) 
 an eminence, called Wyndcliff", which I had 
 frequently heard of and was very anxious to 
 visit. I found my way thither through a planta- 
 tion of firs that crowns its summit, at the end of 
 which a landscape of such transcendent beauty 
 opened before me, as cast a sort of shade on 
 every former scene within my observation. I 
 felt as if I had been conducted to the spot, by 
 the hand of some invisible agent, to contemplate 
 the regions of enchantment or the gardens of 
 Elysium. It embraces a thousand picturesque 
 objects, yet as a whole, it is not picturesque, but 
 possesses something of a superior kind that 
 cannot easily be described. The man of taste 
 would gnze upon it with rapture and astonish-
 
 
 
 B
 
 39 
 
 meat, but he would never think for a moment 
 about sketching its likeness on canvass, he 
 knows that his labour would be in vain. The 
 scene is of too varigated, too immense, and too 
 resplendent a character, to receive any just 
 delineation, either from the pencil of the painter, 
 or the pen of the poet." Having banqueted 
 sufficiently on this " feast of reason" we now 
 prepare to descend the rock. Returning to the 
 summit, an opening to the left leads to a flight 
 of rude steps, down which we pass enjoying the 
 scenery at every opening. In the course of the 
 descent, the path passes through a natural 
 cavern in the rock, the light afforded from above 
 is scarcely sufficient to guide the step, yet no 
 danger is to be apprehended on that account, the 
 road being perfectly secure, the path continues 
 its agreeable windings through the wood, dis- 
 closing fresh beauties in the miniature world 
 below : we tread on a carpet of moss, and seats 
 are placed at easy distances, as well for stations 
 of rest as for the further gratification of the 
 senses. At the end of the walk is a neat and 
 comfortable cottage, where parties may be 
 accommodated with a room to dine or drink tea. 
 The usual way adopted by travellers to this 
 beautiful spot, is to provide themselves with a 
 proper carriage, and provisions necessary for the 
 trip, alight at the grand entrance to Piercefield, 
 and send the carriage on to Saint Arvan's Gate.
 
 40 
 
 On again joining it, the driver will proceed as 
 high as he can up the cliff, on alighting, he (the 
 driver) must be directed to go down to the Moss 
 cottage, and deliver the provisions to Mrs. 
 Vaughan, while you proceed to the top, and 
 upon your arrival you will find your dinner, or 
 your tea ready, and civility and neatness to 
 increase your relish for it. A stable for the 
 accommodation of your horses, is near the cottage. 
 The scenery of the winding river, which washes 
 the foot of the mighty cliff on which you stand, 
 is seen to a great extent, — and at this grand 
 point we take our leave of the lovely Wye. 
 
 T. JEW, PRINTER, WESTGATE STREET, GLOUCESTER.
 
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