Saturday 26th June 1819
it; the cross roads about Tintern are remarkably bad, and the hills very steep and slippery; we arrived at Monmouth at 7 o’Clock; the Beaufort Arms is an excellent Inn; being all very much fatigued we soon found (???) an agreeable comparison Saturday June 26th This morning the rain still continuing we
employed ourselves in doors until one o’Clock when we were delighted to see the day clearing up, and we determined to visit Tintern; in our way thither, we had a high treat in viewing the beautiful Scenery which was entirely hid from us the day before; Tintern Abbey surpassed my
expectations, it is indeed a most beautiful old Structure and stands in a lovely situation we walked a short way in order to take a slight survey of some ironworks which much amused us. the roads here being extremely bad we did not arrive at the Beaufort Arms until nine o’Clock
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Monmouth is the historic county town of Monmouthshire. The work of the Monmouth Archaeological Society on sites along Monnow Street uncovered a Bronze Age boat building community and later excavations revealed the remains of a Neolithic crannog with timbers radiocarbon dated to 4867 years BP (Before Present - Metrologists established 1950 as the origin year for the BP scale for use with radiocarbon dating, using a 1950-based reference sample of oxalic acid.) Indeed, the Council for British Archaeology have designated Monmouth as one of the top ten towns in Britain for archaeology
The town was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium, and the Normans built a castle here after 1067. In about 1300, town walls were built, and the bridge over the Monnow was fortified. The bridge, now pedestrianised, remains in place today and is the only one of its type remaining in Britain and reputedly one of only three similar crossings in Europe.
The copyright on this image is owned by Pauline Eccles and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Gatehouse_on_Monnow_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1241351.jpg
The layout of the town as depicted in John Speed's map of 1610 would be easily recognisable to present day inhabitants, with the layout of the main axis clearly visible from the castle via the main street, Monnow Street, to the bridge. Monnow Street is a typical market street, in being wide in the middle (for those selling) and narrow at each end, to help prevent livestock escaping.
John Speed's Map of Monmouth, Wales, 1610. No copyright, public domain.
Monmouth castle was slighted after the wars ended, but the town itself grew in prosperity. Great Castle House, built in 1673, is now the home of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia), the oldest regiment in the British Army.
Ruins of the 12th century castle at Monmouth. The copyright on this image is owned by Richard Croft and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1373622
By the end of the 18th century, the town had become a popular centre for visitors undertaking the "Wye Tour", an excursion by boat through the scenic Wye Valley taking in the picturesque sights of Ross-on-Wye, Goodrich, Tintern, Chepstow and elsewhere. Poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, and Robert Southey, as well as painter J. M. W. Turner, were among those who visited the area
The town was visited in 1802 by Admiral Horatio Nelson, who stayed at the Beaufort Arms. He knew the importance of the area's woodland in providing timber for the British Navy and approved a Naval Temple built in his honour on the nearby Kymin Hill. Wooden ships up to 500 tons were built at a shipyard just south of Monmouth bridge until the new bridge at Chepstow was opened in 1816. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouth
Beaufort Arms was a coaching inn dating from the early eighteenth century, although its frontage may have been modified by the prolific early Victorian architect George Vaughan Maddox in the 1830s.
The Beaufort Arms Hotel, Monmouth, Wales. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaufort_Arms_1.JPG
The hotel, the "handsomest" in Agincourt Square, is of three and one half storeys high, and five bays across. The rear has an extensive courtyard, with stables for coach horses. The building was converted into flats and shops in 1989. The balcony below, facing Agincourt Square, is reputed to have been used by the Dukes of Beaufort for making speeches during elections. Admiral Lord Nelson stayed here in July 1802 with Sir William and Lady Emma Hamilton, arriving by boat on the River Wye. Following his rapturous reception in the town, Lord Nelson promised to attend a Dinner in his honour on his return journey from Pembrokeshire. Thus, on 19 August, at 4pm, at the Beaufort Arms Inn, the company sat down to "a sumptuous entertainment ......for which a fine buck was presented by His Grace the Duke of Beaufort". The inn reached its peak during the early 19th century when the Wye Tour was popular and Nelson had given it publicity by staying there. The Beaufort Arms Hotel became the town's principal coaching inn with direct transport to London by famous coaches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beaufort_Arms_Hotel,_Monmouth
Tintern Abbey as sketched by Lucy, this day 200 years ago. Like her contemporaries in the Romantic era, Lucy appreciated ruins in their natural state, preferably covered in ivy as shown here.
This is the first drawing in Lucy’s new sketch book. Many show signs of “foxing”, especially when the weather was wet or damp on the day.
J. M. W. Turner's "Tintern Abbey: The Crossing and Chancel, Looking towards the East Window" was painted in 1794 and illustrates so well the passion of the Romantics for a profusion of ivy on their ruins.
J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. Reference:Blue pencil.svg wikidata:Q159758 q:en:
1819 - Tintern Abbey, by Frank Copland in Lucy’s smaller scrap book. This is the scene Lucy and the family would have witnessed on Saturday 26th June 1819
This tiny 115x76mm watercolour painting is found in one of Lucy’s scrapbooks. By her brother Frank, we know that this is the scene Lucy and her family would have witnessed on the afternoon of Saturday 26th June 1819. At least two of the figures are likely to be tourists sketching what was one of the finest examples of “Romantic” scenery
Today Tintern has been well preserved and stabilised for posterity. Although there is the occasional small pocket of ivy, the profusion of the past has made way for preservation for the future.
Tintern Furnace is a scheduled monument where you can explore the ruins of the furnace site which dates back to 1590. The Angidy Valley would have been chosen as the location for ironworks due to the availability of water power, charcoal (from the surrounding woodland) and iron ore. “This was a charcoal blast furnace which pre-dates the later coke furnaces of the Industrial age. A waterwheel was used to power bellows which created the blast into the furnace chamber and increased the heat to burn the charcoal and melt the iron ore. It is likely that the furnace was rebuilt on a number of occasions. One of these changes was the replacement of the earlier bellows with cylinders to power the blast into the furnace. The Angidy Valley was the first place in Britain to use this method. This furnace ceased production in 1826 when improved methods of manufacture rendered the complex redundant. The ironworks complex extended to a much wider area than just the fenced site seen today as it would have included most of the adjacent cottage gardens.” http://www.overlookingthewye.org.uk/index.php/hidden-industry/abbey-tintern-furnace/abbey-tintern-furnace-historical-background/
The furnace was still operating in 1819 and this artist's impression may provide an idea of how it looked at the time of Lucy's visit http://www.overlookingthewye.org.uk/index.php/hidden-industry/abbey-tintern-furnace/abbey-tintern-furnace-historical-background/
Can you help us?
Help with transcription: “the Beaufort Arms is an excellent Inn; being all very much fatigued we soon found (???) an agreeable comparison.” We would appreciate any help in interpreting the word we have left as (???) in the transcript
Old Regency Prints or Pictures and maps of the Old Coaching Routes: Any illustrations of what Lucy would have seen in 1819 will bring our research alive. Any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and sites will enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought.