With breathtakingly beautiful views, peaceful atmosphere and fascinating history, one of Monmouth’s most famous landmarks, The Kymin, is well worth a visit.
Perched high above the town, The Kymin boasts commanding views of Wales and England.
It became the first National Trust site in Wales and is a stone’s throw from the banks of the River Wye. Every year, pre-pandemic, it attracted thousands of visitors from around the world.
It is included in the register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in Wales and lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Visitors can tread in the footsteps of Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton, who visited The Kymin for the views over 200 years ago.
The small two-storey circular Georgian banqueting house, known as The Round House, which stands on the top was built in 1794 by a group of Monmouth’s gentlemen, the Monmouth Picnic Club. It’s members used it as a venue to meet each week and dine together, and it featured a banqueting room on the first floor.
It is currently closed to visitors but the grounds are open to the public.
A Naval Temple was also built there in 1801 and is believed to be the only monument to an entire Navy in the world.
The historic memorial and the Round House were built by the gentlemen of Monmouth to commemorate 16 of Britain’s greatest 18th century admirals, including Lord Horatio Nelson, and dedicated to the Duchess of Beaufort, the chief local landowner.
Lord Horatio Nelson was Britain’s greatest naval hero born in 1758. He was made a lieutenant in the Navy aged 19 and in 1793 was put in command of HMS Agamemnon where he met Sir William and Lady Hamilton, who later became his lover. He became a rear admiral of the Blue and was given a Knighthood. He was commemorated on the Naval Temple following his victory of Napoleon in the Battle of the Nile in 1798.
Lord Nelson visited the town in 1802, travelling down the River Wye on a visit to Pembrokeshire with Sir William and Lady Hamilton.
Visitors can find out more about the QRpedia code- a type of bar code a smartphone can read through its camera that takes a user to a Wikipedia article in their language.
WALKS
The site features The Kymin Walk, which is about a mile in length and visits the two Georgian buildings. Walkers start at the car park, which is free of charge, and head to the Naval Temple, The Round House and Beaulieu Grove before making a loop back to the car park.
Other walks that cross The Kymin are; the Penallt to Redbrook Walk which is a loop that follow’s the Offa’s Dyke path for half of it and is about eight miles in length and also the Wysis Way which starts at Monmouth, where Offa’s Dyke crosses the River Wye and heads east across a tract of the Forest of Dean and the Leadon Vale to Gloucester.
To reach The Kymin follow the A4136 from Monmouth to Coleford and the Forest of Dean. After nearly a mile take a sharp right signposted The Kymin. Follow this road, which is narrow and steep in places to the top of the hill and the car park. From the car park, walk up to the Round House and Viewpoint past the Naval Temple.
Visit Monmouthwalkersarewelcome.org.uk or nationaltrust.org
