MONMOUTH, a borough and market-town and parish, having separate
jurisdiction, though locally in the lower division of the hundred
of Skenfreth, county of MONMOUTH, of which it is the chief town, 130
miles (W. N. W.) from London, containing 4164 inhabitants. This
place, which derives its name from being situated at the mouth of
the river Monnow, is by some antiquaries supposed
to have been the Blestium of Antoninus, but no Roman
antiquities have been discovered to confirm that
opinion. It was a place of considerable importance
during the time of the Saxons, who, to secure their
conquests between the Severn and the Wye, and to
repel the frequent incursions of the Britons, erected
a stately castle, and fortified the town with walls of
immense strength; of the former, a small portion is
still remaining, and of the latter, one of the gateway
towers, at the entrance from the Ross road, is almost
entire, and several other vestiges may be traced in
various parts of the town. At the time of the Norman
Conquest, it was bestowed upon William Fitz-
Baderon, one of the Conqueror's followers, who, irom
that circumstance, assumed the name of William <w
Monmouth. The celebrated John of Gaunt, Duke oi
Lancaster, resided for some time in the castle;
was also the birthplace of Henry V., who passed his
infancy here, and whose cradle, and the sword which he
used at the battle of Agincourt, are deposited in Troy
House, belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, at a short
distance on the road to Chepstow.
The town is beautifully situated on the banks of the
river Wye, near its confluence with the Monnow, in
a luxuriant vale, environed by hills of various elevation,
some of them being richly crowned with wood,
and consists of one spacious street extending from the
market-place to the river Monnow, over which is an
ancient stone bridge with an arched gateway, erected in
1272, forming an entrance from the Abergavenny road,
and of several other streets diverging in different directions
to the river Wye, over which is also a handsome
stone bridge. The houses are in general well built 5
many of those in the principal street have gardens
and orchards attached to them, and in various parts
of the town are ancient buildings interspersed with
handsome modern houses; the streets on the side
towards the Wye contain several ranges of respectable
buildings: the town is well paved and lighted, and amply
supplied with water from springs, and with soft water,
for culinary purposes, by carts which convey it to the
houses of the inhabitants at a moderate charge. The
public library is well furnished with modern works j and
assemblies are held occasionally at the Beaufort Arms
and at the town hall. Chippenham meadow, an extensive
plot of ground, forms a delightful promenade on
the bank of the Wye, and is intersected by the river
Monnow, which empties itself into that river: races are
annually held in October, and are well attended. On the
opposite side of the river, and on the acclivities of the
hills which rise from its banks, numerous picturesque
and beautiful villas are irregularly scattered at different
elevations; on the Kymin, a lofty hill commanding an
extensive view of the windings of the river through a
finely varied tract of country, and of the town lying at
its base, a marine pavilion has been erected in honour of
the distinguished Lord Nelson, and other naval heroes,
whose achievements are recorded by paintings and
inscriptions. Beaulieu Grove is a rich wood, through
which many pleasing walks have been made, commanding
in different points of view agreeable prospects of
the scenery in the neighbourhood. The steep banks of
the Wye, clothed in many places with the most luxuriant
verdure, are rich in every variety of beauty; and
the windings of the river lead through a succession of
scenes not surpassed by any of like character in the
country. The beauty of the landscape, the mildness of
the air, and its peculiar adaptation as a place of retirement,
have made it the retreat of many respectable families,
who have erected on the shores of the river, and
on the heights which crown its banks, numerous handsome
villas. The trade principally arises from the navigation
of the river Wye, in the traffic carried on with
Hereford and Bristol; and the preparation of bark from
the forests of the Upper Wye, of which a great quantity
is sent to Chepstow for exportation to the south of
England and different parts of Ireland, and in which a
considerable number of men, women, and children, are
employed. The iron and tin manufactures were introduced
into this kingdom, and established at Monmouth,
by a native of Switzerland, and are now carried
on to a considerable extent: the town is well supplied
with coal from the neighbouring Forest of Dean, from
which a rail-road has been constructed, passing through
Coleford and Newland. Paper is largely manufactured
at mills situated on streams near the town, and there
are also several corn-mills. The market, which is well
supplied, is on Saturday, and a market is held on the
first Wednesday in each month, for the sale of cattle,
sheep, and pigs; the fairs are on Whit-Tuesday, for toys;
the Wednesday before the 20th of June, for wool and
cheese; and September 4th, and November 22d, for
cattle, hops, and cheese.
The inhabitants were first incorporated by Edward VI., who
confirmed the preceding privileges granted by Henry VIII.,
which were afterwards extended by Charles II., by whose
charter the government is vested in a mayor, recorder, two
bailiffs, and fifteen common council-men, assisted by a
town clerk, chamberlain, coroner, two serjeants at mace,
and subordinate officers. The corporation hold quarterly
courts of session for the trial of misdemeanants
within the borough. The assizes for the county, and
the petty sessions for the upper division of the hundred
of Usk, are held here. The town is within the duchy of
Lancaster, and subject to the jurisdiction of the duchy
courts. The town hall is a substantial stone structure
on piazzas, and ornamented with a statue of Henry V.:
the lower part is appropriated to the use of the market,
and the upper part contains the court-rooms for
the assizes and the sessions, and a spacious assemblyroom.
The county gaol and house of correction is a
spacious stone building in the form of a castle, on the
road to Hereford, and contains forty-one cells, ten dayrooms,
and seven airing-yards, in one of which is a
tread-wheel, for the classification of prisoners. The borough
first exercised the elective franchise in the 27th
of Henry VIII., in conjunction with those of Usk and
Newport: it returns one member to parliament. The
right of election is vested in the resident burgesses of
these several boroughs, the number of whom is about
eight hundred, chiefly in the interest of the Duke of
Beaufort: the mayor and bailiffs are the returning
officers. The election of knights for the shire also
takes place in Monmouth, as the county town.
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Hereford, rated in the king's
books at £9. 2. 3., endowed with £200 private benefaction,
£200 royal bounty, and £200 parliamentary grant,
and in the patronage of the Duke of Beaufort. The
church, dedicated to St. Mary, was anciently the conventual
church of a Benedictine priory, founded here
in the reign of Henry II., the revenue of which at the
dissolution was £56. 1. 11. The body of the church
has been rebuilt in the modern style, and the only part
remaining of the original building is the tower, surmounted
by an elegant and finely-proportioned spire, in
the early style of English architecture, two hundred
and ten feet high, and forming an interesting feature
m the view of the town. St. Thomas, a chapel of
ease to the vicarage, is an ancient edifice with a low
tower, exhibiting good specimens of the early English
and the Norman styles, with some portions of an earlier
period; it is supposed to have been founded prior to the
Conquest, and is now undergoing repair, on the completion
of which it is proposed to assign to it a district,
under the authority of the commissioners for building new
churches. Thei-e are places of worship for Baptists, Independents,
and Wesleyan Methodists, and a Roman Catholic
chapel. The free grammar school was founded
in the reign of James I., by William Jones, a native of
Newland in this vicinity, and citizen and haberdasher
of London, who bequeathed £9000 for the endowment
of a school and almshouse, and for the establishment
of a lectureship in the church: the school is open to
all children of the neighbourhood, with preference to
those of this parish, for instruction in the Latin and
Greek languages; the premises, near Wye bridge, are
handsomely built, comprising houses for the master, who
has a salary of £120 per annum, the usher, who has
£60, and the lecturer, whose stipend is £140 per annum.
The English language, writing, arithmetic, and the mathematics,
are taught by an additional master, recently
appointed, with a salary of £60 per annum. The almshouses
consist of twenty separate tenements, with a
garden to each, for twenty aged men and women, who
have a weekly allowance of six shillings each, with a
supply of coal and clothing; the school and almshouses
are under the direction of the corporation and the Haberdashers
Company. A National school, supported
by subscription, and in which nearly one hundred
boys and upwards of ninety girls are instructed, is
kept in an ancient room, with a fine oriel window,
part of the priory of Benedictine monks, said to
have been the study of the celebrated Geoffrey of Monmouth,
a native of this town, who resided many
years in that convent. Of the hospitals of the Holy
Trinity and St. John, founded here, in the early part
of the thirteenth century, by Wihenoc de Monemue,
there are no remains. At the distance of a mile from
the town, on the road to Staunton, is a rocking-stone
of very large dimensions, called the Buck stone; it is
twenty-four feet high, fifty-seven feet in circumference
at the upper surface, and three inches and one sixth
at the base; and near it is a flight of nine steps,
above which is a large stone, having the appearance of
a baptismal font, with a cavity for holding water; they
are supposed to be Druidical remains. Monmouth
formerly gave the title of duke to James, natural son of
Charles II.