People have been visiting or passing through Abergavenny since the Middle Ages. Helen Morgan from Abergavenny Local History Society reports.
Before the railway arrived in 1850, tourists arrived on horseback or by stage coach. The roads were poor but travel they did. The first recorded trip was by Giraldus Cambrensis, Archdeacon of Brecon, accompanying Archbishop Baldwin to “preach the cross” in 1188. Their journey from Brecon took them to Coed Grwyne, past Llanthony into Abergavenny then on to Usk. This might seem an odd route, but crossing the Black Mountains was probably easier than following the river.
John Ogilby’s Britannia, published from 1675, provided 100 strip maps with the hills indicated by an inverted ‘v’. City dwellers travelled to escape the filth and foul air. Medical remedies were few, so the benefits of visiting a spa to take the waters and enjoy the country air en route cannot be underestimated. Religion, too, played a significant role for pilgrims and itinerant preachers. As well as the Wesleys spreading Methodism, William Dillwyn was a travelling Quaker, noting the landscape as well as worshiping in meeting houses, and staying with friends of Friends.
By the18th century, journeys would have been along rutted roads that were dusty in dry weather and boggy when wet. But health benefits and the chance to discover unfamiliar places were all stimulants for domestic travellers, especially those who could not afford a Continental tour. It was common at this time for people to visit large houses, even to pay a housekeeper to show them around while the owners were not in residence. Their numbers increased when the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) put an end to Continental travel. In particular, artists such as JMW Turner flocked to Wales for its scenery, weather and industrial sights. One painting from this time is Turner’s ‘Abergavenny Bridge, clearing up after a showery day’.
A book by Liz Pitman on female travellers quotes diaries of the time. Ann Bletchley stayed at the Angel in 1812 and recorded that she was ‘unsettled’ by the thought of a French (prisoner of war) Officer in the next room’. Sarah Wilmot also stayed at the Angel in 1795 and 1802 and recorded climbing the Skirrid and visiting Coldbrook House. After Abergavenny Castle opened to the public in 1880 trainloads of visitors poured in from the Valleys and elsewhere.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The Borough Theatre is closed due to Covid 19. Consequently Bleddyn Penny’s talk on Ebbw Vale on April 1st has been postponed.
abergavennylocalhistorysociety.btck.co.uk
Helen Morgan