Picturesque views on the river Wye, from its source at Plinlimmon Hill, to its junction with the Severn below Chepstow

On the approach to Ross, a fine amphitheatre of trees called Ashwood skirts the southern bank of the Wye. From this charming spot, near three miles above Ross, the annexed view which comprehends the principal objects that compose the beautiful in picturesque landscape was sketched. The town is situated on the declivity of a hill at a happy distance, and not too obtrusive on the eye; the rising hills with which it is screened give a boldness of character to the situation, nor is the winding of the river, and verdure of the country that enrich its banks, less characteristic of this delightful neighbourhood. The hill to the right of the town is called the Chase, and that on the left, Penyard-wood, on which formerly stood a castle, said to have been destroyed in the civil wars. The white spire of Ross church “bosomed high in tufted trees” has at this distance an effect peculiarly pleasing, but on a nearer approach, the town obtrudes too much on the eye, and the picturesque and beautiful, gradually disappear.

Ross, abstracted from its elevated and delightful situation, has little to render it worthy attention; the prospect from the church yard a spot to which the traveller is generally conducted on his arrival, displays a very extensive and enchanting landscape both above and below the town.

The beautiful and meandering course of the river beneath, enriched with pleasure boats constantly in motion, in their passage to and from Chepstow, gives life and beauty to the scene. These boats are lightly constructed and are navigated by three men, either with or without a sail. The heavy mass of building called the Town Hall, from its general appearance conveys a faint idea of the worst style of Saxon architecture; it is a ponderous and unmeaning heap of stone, huddled together in the tasteless reign of James the first, by one John Abel who erected a similar building at Hereford; they vie with each other in want of taste, and have nothing to render them worthy notice but their absurdity, which I believe is not to be equalled by the dullest architect of that or any other period. At one end of the building, intended I presume as an ornament, there is a noseless bust, supposed to be that of the merry monarch Charles the second. In such a state of decay is the stone of which this edifice is composed, together with the heavy style of its architecture, that it has every appearance of having been erected as far back as the time of the Saxons.

Notwithstanding the disadvantage under which this building labors, I have yet considered the general view of which it forms a part as not devoid of interest, it comprises the house in which the man of Ross resided till his death, now known by the sign of the King’s Arm Inn. As every the most trifling circumstance relative to a character so highly distinguished by the pen of Pope, and still more highly dignified by the general voice of the people of Ross becomes interesting, I have here thought fit to give a view of the house in which he resided, and the adjoining buildings.

To the benevolent John Kyrle, a name almost lost in the superior title of the Good Man of Ross this town owes most of its improvements and charitable institutions.

He was born at Whitehouse, in the parish of Dymock, in the county of Hereford in 1637, served the office of sheriff for the county in 1683, and died in 1724.

From an income of only five hundred pounds a year, this good man appears to have derived every happiness to himself and to have diffused it with uncommon benevolence to all around him. This exemplary character has been so interestingly delineated by the pen of Pope, that the introduction of the following lines although well known, will need no apology for their insertion in this work.

The allusion of the poet, to a neglect in not raising a monument to the good man’s name, no longer exists, for in 1776 a neat mural tablet was erected to his memory in the chancel of the church, by Colonel Money, to defray the expence of which, the sum of three hundred pounds was bequeathed by a Lady Kinnoul, whose property devolving to the Colonel, the good intention of the lady was by him accomplished. On this tablet the following lines are inscribed.

“This monument was erected in memory of Mr. John Kyrle, commonly called the Man of Ross.”

It is somewhat singular that neither his age, nor the time of his death, are here mentioned. The design for the monument was made by a Mr. Marsh of this town, who has introduced a bust of the good man that bears little resemblance to either of the two portraits I met with in Ross; one of these is in the possession of Philip Jones Esq.; a gentleman, who by marriage with a descendant of John Kyrle, enjoys all his property, and by his urbanity renders himself a worthy representative of that exemplary character. This picture appears to be that of a person about thirty six years of age, and is evidently the work of Sir Peter Lely. The other portrait was at the King’s Arms Inn, formerly the residence of John Kyrle, as described in the view given in this section, it represents him at a more advanced period of life, and on that account, although ill painted, it was preferred to the former as he is exhibited nearer the close of a life, long and happily spent in the promotion of virtue, and to the honor of human nature. I flatter myself the annexed etching from this picture will not prove unacceptable to the admirer and collector of portraits, as I do not remember to have ever seen a print of this exalted character. The original is said to have been sketched from the life unknown to Mr. Kyrle, on a Sunday whilst he was attending divine service. He had often been solicited to sit for his picture, but no inducement could prevail on him to comply with the request of his friends.

It is reported of Mr. Kyrle, that his ordinary mode of dress, was very plain, and so mean as even to suggest the idea of indigence and want. And even more unfavourable conclusions have been made, from his general appearance, for upon no better foundation, it is said that when travelling in Oxfordshire on horseback, he was apprehended near Benson, upon a suspicion of having committed a robbery in a neighbouring county. I need not add that this charge was dismissed the instant his name was made known to the magistracy.

We cannot quit this town without noticing to the picturesque traveller, a charming walk made by Mr. Kyrle, which led to what he called his farm, it commands a beautiful view of the devious windings of the river beneath, and Wilton castle, bridge, &c. on the opposite shore.