{"id":14450,"date":"2024-07-08T12:14:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T11:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14450"},"modified":"2024-07-08T12:19:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T11:19:40","slug":"14450","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14450","title":{"rendered":"Monmouth"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Monmouth <\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Monmouth\u2019s history goes back at least 2000 years to the presence of a Roman garrison. Its position at the meeting place of 3 rivers \u2013 the Trothy, Monnow and Wye, and one of the few places where the Wye could be safely crossed, allowed it to grow from a market town to the seat of legislature. Parts of the medieval town survive at Monnow bridge, the priory buildings and the castle where Henry V was born. In Agincourt Square his statue overlooks that of another famous citizen, Charles Rolls, an early pioneer of aviation and co-founder of Rolls Royce.<\/p>\n

We were lucky to park as, we chose the day of the Monmouth Regatta for our walk. The beginning of the walk along the river was very busy with many people participating in the regatta (some from as far away as Staines) and spectators.<\/p>\n

A few of us went into the Church of St Peter, its history stretches back to early Welsh Christianity with the first mention of a church, Llan Tydwg, in AD 750. It was on the border of a small Welsh kingdom of Archenfield, a stronghold of the early Celtic Church. The current church was probably rebuilt in the 11th Century after it was destroyed by the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Llywelyn who, in 1054, led a raid up the Wye to Hereford, devastating riverside settlements. Historically the church has passed back and forth between the dioceses of Llandaff and Hereford. Now, although the church is in Monmouth (Wales), it is part of the diocese of Hereford (England) as the parishioners voted for this in 1921.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The church was full of interesting information and articles. One of my favourite nuggets was \u2018customs included the payment of rent in honey; the Welsh believed that bees came from Paradise and so candles for Holy Communion were always made from beeswax.\u2019 The old font was discovered in the rubble of chapel farm, it is possible that after leaving the church it was used to press apples or as an animal trough. There is a leper\u2019s bench and door. A beautiful, variegated tree stands in the church yard.<\/p>\n

It is thought that the church has been flooded 64 times in the last 95 years. In the 2020 flood (1.6metres) the pews damaged the reredos and in 2023 the pulpit was lost. The floor is regularly being replaced.<\/p>\n

Leaving the river, we went through a tunnel under the A40 where the walls were decorated with painted mosaics created by local groups and schools; they\u00a0depict the heritage of Monmouth and the Wye valley AONB. We travelled along tracks on the edge of the town until we passed the \u2018the Manor on the Monnow\u2019. We soon came to a feat of engineering, \"\"<\/a>where the Monnow was channelled creating a hydroelectric scheme with a fish pass. Monmouth\u2019s lights were water powered in 1899! In the 17th century a forge was powered at this site. At one point the river went over a lip creating an infinity pool effect.<\/p>\n

Continuing we enjoyed fields of buttercups, welcome shade from trees along the river, and extensive views of the countryside. Climbing a steep road, we passed a small holding with a peacock and other birds, and someone spotted a few deer. Crossing a couple of fields, we stopped for lunch in a meadow covered in a red and yellow carpet of flowers and grasses. As we sat, we were excited to spot a herd of about twenty deer in the distance.<\/p>\n

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Walking again along a road, we saw the roe deer race across a field next to us before they disappeared. We passed Westwood Archery Centre where we were warned \u2018 No trespassing \u2013 Violators will be shot; Survivors will be shot again\u2019. We continued to have excellent views of the Black mountains and found some wonderful examples of trees, foxgloves and other wildflowers beside the paths. Emerging onto a road we were admiring a barn which had been weather-proofed with a new roof when the farmer told us it was for sale, if we were interested.<\/p>\n

Near the end of the walk, we crossed the A40 and walked along the river Wye catching a few races of the regatta, as we walked, before returning to the cars. One race consisted of two mixed teams of eight rowers, the first of these any of us had seen. Someone in our group had to comment that \u2018everyone seemed to be wearing old fashioned swimming costumes\u2019.<\/p>\n

An interesting and sunny walk was topped off with refreshments at a local garden centre<\/p>\n

Walk 8.3m, 1100ft. Map OL14<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Monmouth Monmouth\u2019s history goes back at least 2000 years to the presence of a Roman garrison. Its position at the meeting place of 3 rivers \u2013 the Trothy, Monnow and Wye, and one of the few places where the Wye could be safely crossed, allowed it to grow from a market town to the seat of legislature. Parts of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-14450","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":122,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=122","url_meta":{"origin":14450,"position":0},"title":"Footsteps – Rockfield and St. Maughans","author":"Alan Williams","date":"26th July 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Rockfield, a country village just outside Monmouth was our starting point. From the church we walked a short way on road and transferred almost immediately into a field with the occasional pale lilac of Lady\u2019s Smock flowers and white flowers on spikes of Annual Nettle. We turned west and went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Footsteps"","block_context":{"text":"Footsteps","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=38"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/JULY-cow.jpg1_.png?fit=475%2C677&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15702,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15702","url_meta":{"origin":14450,"position":1},"title":"Redbrook and Pontsticill","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Redbrook and Pontsticill Redbrook We parked at Redbrook and walked up the Wye valley, away from Monmouth, towards Bigsweir bridge. We entered Highbury wood, an example of ancient semi-natural woodland typical of the Wye valley. 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