MONMOUTH
The situation of Monmouth is an ideal one, as it is surrounded by hills, through which the Wye, the Monnow, and the Trothy flow. It was at one time fortified by a surrounding wall pierced by four gates; but the Monnow, or Western Gate, dating from 1270, is regarded by some writers as a toll-gate rather than one of those belonging to the wall. This gate stands upon the Monnow Bridge, and is a strikingly picturesque feature of the town. Of the Roman origin of Monmouth (the Blestium of Antoninus) there are at present no traces, but it was a fortified station as early as the Saxon period.
The Church of St. Mary was rebuilt from the designs of Street in 1881, with the exception of the tower and the tall and very slender spire. Near it, in Priory Street, is a building called 'Geoffrey's Study,' possessing a Perpendicular window corbelled out on brackets. It cannot possibly have been used by Geoffrey of Monmouth, after whom it is named, as he died in 1154. The building, or, more correctly, the old portion of it, is a remnant of the domestic buildings of the Benedictine Priory.
St. Thomas's Church, in Overmonnow, contains some Norman architecture. Near the door of the church stands an elaborate cross.
The Shire Hall, built in 1724, has a solemn façade bearing in the centre a niche filled with a metal statue of Henry V., the hero of Agincourt. One cannot be long in Monmouth without being reminded of Harry of that ilk, for the square in front of the Shire Hall, formerly the bull-ring, is now called Agincourt Square. Many quaint old houses and inns still exist in the town, the Robin Hood in Monnow Street and the Queen's Head in Wyebridge Street being good examples of the picturesque hostelry, so attractive after journeying for many miles in Wales, where every town is uniformly dreary in its architecture. Monmouth Castle stood on a raised site close to the church. It was a ruin at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and where the keep stood there is a house of that period. There are still, however, some sections of walls, and one window of the great hall survives.
On leaving Monmouth by the Ross Road, the little parish church of Dixton is soon encountered, and farther on the beautiful level height called King Arthur's Plain is seen across the river. At times it presents the appearance of towers belonging to a castle.
(It is advisable not to take cars down the road marked 'To Symond's Yat and the Hotel,' between Kerne Bridge and Whitchurch, as it is very narrow and rough. The road from Whitchurch is better.)
Symond's Yat is a rock which towers up to 800 feet above the surface of the river. The ascent is quite easy, and from the upper part a magnificent view is to be obtained. The scenery at this part of the Wye is of quite exceptional beauty. Between the road and Symond's Yat two hills—the Great and Little Dowards—occur. Upon the top of the latter is a fine British camp, reputed to have once been occupied by Caractacus.
Whitchurch is a pretty little village possessing an Early English church dedicated to St. Dubricius, Archbishop of Caerleon in the sixth century. The remains of a stone cross have been restored. After leaving Whitchurch, the roads become somewhat confusing, and care should be taken at the turns. At the foot of the bridge carrying the main road over the river stands Flanesford Priory, which was erected in 1347. From Kerne Bridge a magnificent prospect of the Wye is obtained.