The birthplace of British Tourism

Visitors to the Wye Valley today are following in the footsteps of many an eighteenth century traveller, sketchbook in hand, eagerly pursuing the British equivalent of the European Grand Tour.

The man who popularised the Wye Tour, promoted the area for its "Picturesque" beauty, and contributed to its reputation as the birthplace of British Tourism, was the Reverend William Gilpin. The pioneer of the "Picturesque", he saw the landscape as

"expressive of that peculiar beauty which is agreeable in a picture."

His writings influenced the remarkable popularity of English landscape painting during the last decade of the 18th Century, and inspired the Romantic poets.

The "Picturesque" movement and the Wye Tour

Gilpin's "Observations on the River Wye" appeared in print in 1782. Arguably the first tour guide to be published in Britain, it was one of a series of illustrated guidebooks to help travellers locate and enjoy the most "Picturesque" aspects of the countryside.

In fact, it was many years earlier, in 1745 that the true originator of the "Wye Tour", Dr John Egerton, started taking friends on boat trips down the Valley from the rectory at Ross-on-Wye. Little did he know that he had started a trend, and once Gilpin's guidebook was published, demand grew so much that by 1808 there were eight boats wending their way down the Wye.

Thomas Gray (author of Elegy in a Country Churchyard) also played his part in promoting the Wye Tour. In 1770, the same year that Gilpin made the visit which provided material for his later book, Gray too journeyed to the Wye. He wrote:

"The very principal light, a capital feature of my journey was the river Wye, which I descended in a boat for near forty miles, from Ross to Chepstow. Its banks are a succession of nameless beauties."

The Wye Valley was witnessing the birth of British tourism. By 1850 more than 20 of the more literate 'tourists' had published their own accounts of the Wye Tour. Some of the most famous poets, writers and artists of Gilpin's day made the pilgrimage to the great sights of Goodrich, Tintern and Chepstow - among them Pope, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Thackeray and Turner. The many guidebooks, engravings and paintings ensured a continuing steady stream of visitors. Some of these works are today held in the collections at Chepstow and Monmouth Museums.

The first of Britain 's great landscapes to be 'discovered', the Wye Valley 's particular attraction was its river scenery. The Wye's meandering course through the Herefordshire Lowlands and especially through the Wye Gorge was and remains alluring to visitors. Most of the truly 'Picturesque' scenes were sketched from river level, with the shimmering water as the foreground for the brooding forests and cliffs behind. It was also accessible and small in area: the tour was a linear one, unless you carried on into South Wales. The Wye Valley was also a landscape of ruins, including the castles of Wilton, Goodrich and Chepstow, and ruins were very important to the notion of the Picturesque.

The arrival of the railway in 1876 made the valley even more accessible. In the early 1900s, crowds of up to 1300 would travel on a special train journey to see Tintern Abbey on the night of the harvest moon. Today, the Wye Gorge between Ross-on-Wye and Chepstow is one of the best known and most visited landscapes in southern Britain.

Tintern Abbey was undoubtedly the most eagerly awaited stop on the Wye Tour.

"A more pleasing retreat could not easily be found" wrote Gilpin in 1770, drawing attention to the mixture of woods and glades, the winding river, the splendid ruin and the surrounding hills, which "make all together a very enchanting piece of scenery."

Wordsworth was also captivated by the abbey and its setting, observing in 1798 in his "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" (actually written in a wood above Llandogo)

The: "steep and lofty cliffs", the waters "rolling from their mountain springs with a sweet inland murmur" and the "wild green landscape."

After the Abbey, the highlight of Gilpin's tour was the cliff ascent and walks at Piercefield. Now the site of Chepstow racecourse, in the mid 18th Century, Piercefield had been developed by the slave and plantation owner Valentine Morris, into a park of national reputation. The sensational developments at Piercefield were one of the earliest examples of Picturesque landscaping. Morris laid out walks through the woodland and included a grotto, druid's temple and giant's cave. He also developed viewpoints along the clifftop above the Wye - although ironically Gilpin considered these to be "Romantic" rather than "Picturesque". Today, an overview of the clifftop woods at Piercefield can be seen from the Eagle's Nest viewpoint at the top of the 365 steps. This lookout point, created in the 19th century, also has outstanding views of the Wye, the Severn Estuary and, on a clear day, the Cotswold Hills. One of the many tourists to marvel at this view was the Romantic poet Coleridge(1772-1834) who wrote:

"Oh what a godly scene....The whole world seemed imaged in its vast circumference,"

Morris was later disgraced and bankrupted after being made Governor of St Vincents IIsland in the West Indies and ignominiously losing it to the French. The Piercefield Estate was later sold to the mixed-race son of a St Kitt's plantation owner, who became Monmouthshire's first black magistrate and Sheriff - Nathanial Wells.

The earliest known aesthetic appreciation of the Wye Valley's spectacular views and natural beauty can be dated back to the very beginning of the eighteenth century, when John Kyrle developed the 'Prospect' at Ross-on-Wye. Kyrle selected his viewpoints not because of their strategic value in military or commercial terms, but because they commanded a good view over the surrounding landscape.

As a consequence of the 'Picturesque' Wye Tour even more 'viewpoints' arose at points along the Wye Valley. They include those at Upper and Lower Wyndcliff near Chepstow, Yat Rock, and Capler Camp. The viewpoints split into two categories: the views from the river and the views of the river from the cliffs and hills above. Today, it is the higher views that are the most popular; ironically, few of them are classically 'Picturesque' in Gilpin's terms.

Another legacy of the Picturesque movement is The Kymin above Monmouth, with its round house giving panoramic views across the town. The passion for the Picturesque also influenced the design of Sufton Court, near Hereford, and Goodrich Court. It also led to the incorporation of Little Doward into the private landscape of Wyastone Leys, today the location of a concert hall.

Enthusiasts of the Picturesque, inspired by Gilpin, meet to this day. The Picturesque Society, an international society, based in Herefordshire, was formed in 1992 to encourage research into the origins, history and achievements of the Picturesque Movement. The Society publishes a quarterly journal "The Picturesque" and organises events and excursions. New members are welcome and should contact Jack Calow tel: 01432 265875.

A full-colour brochure entitled 'The Picturesque Wye Tour' is available through adventa at www.wyetour.adventa.org.uk