Wye Tour
Encyclopedia
The Wye Tour consisted of a series of scenic buildings, natural phenomena, and factories located along the River Wye
. It was a popular vacation destination for British
travelers from 1782 to around 1850, and reached its peak popularity during the Napoleonic Wars
, when travel (especially the Grand Tour
) to Continental Europe
was not an option.
scenes. After Observations was published in 1782, travelers from all across Britain flocked to Ross-on-Wye
, typically used as a launching point for the Tour, and sailed downriver to Chepstow
, the Tour's final destination, over a course of two days.
For British travelers confined to the Hibernian Islands during the Napoleonic Wars, the Wye Tour became a replacement for the Continental Grand Tour
. In his Wye Tour (1818), Thomas Dudley Fosbroke
compared the Wye Tour to the Grecian
Tempe
(he called the Tour “a portrait of the celebrated Grecian Tempe enlarged”), thereby elevating the Wye Tour “to the highest level of classical beauty”.
During the early 19th century, the popularity of the Wye and other Picturesque
Tours skyrocketed. Thousands of tourists descended upon Ross-on-Wye each summer to take a Picturesque tour, and to appreciate scenery that the fastidious Gilpin had declared “properly Picturesque.” During this time, Wye Tourists (and seekers of the Picturesque in general) were widely lampooned by British
caricaturists (e.g., William Combe
’s The Adventures of Dr. Syntax, In Search of the Picturesque) and satirical poets, who mocked their ignorance of local customs, single-minded pursuit of Picturesque views, and disregard for one another. Despite this (frequently accurate) criticism, the popularity of the tour endured until the middle of the 19th century – well after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Picturesque fad. Wye Tour destinations like Tintern Abbey
remain some of the most popular weekend destinations for British tourists to the present day
did before writing “Lines Composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798”), or, if they were exceptionally rich, take a private carriage.
Each Tour followed the same general itinerary. First, tourists would leave Ross-on-Wye, appreciating the “mazy course and lofty banks". of the river on the way to their next major destination, Goodrich Castle
. Gilpin deemed the castle “correctly Picturesque”. in its own right, and the crumbling structure, entwined with vines and set on a large hill that loomed over the viewer, “was generally considered to rank as the second grand object of the tour.” From Goodrich Castle, tourists would sail past the ironworks at New Weir (sometimes spelled “New Wear”). Tourists of the time (like Thomas Whateley, who reverentially mentioned “a path [for the ironworkers], worn into steps narrow and steep, winding among the precipices” and commented on a “sullen sound that, at stated intervals from the strokes of the great hammers in the forge, deadens the roar of the water-fall”) thought of the ironworks as enhancing the Picturesque qualities of the surrounding landscape; “the natural scene itself is awesome, and therefore positively enhanced by the presence of industry". After sailing past New Weir, the boats would next pass under Symond’s Yat, a 470 feet (143.3 m) rock that impressed passers-by with a sense of the Sublime
. At the end of the first day of the Tour, the travelers would arrive at the city of Monmouth
, and spend the night in an inn. The following morning, tourists would pass riverside hamlets and Picturesque natural scenery before finally arriving at the Tour’s greatest spectacle, Tintern Abbey
. There, awestruck seekers of the Picturesque observed the bare columns and walls of what was once a massive structure, overrun with vegetation and decay. Before the Abbey was immortalized by William Wordsworth’s poem “Lines,” it was considered to be an impressive, although imperfectly-Picturesque, ruin. During the 18th century, the Abbey was purchased by the Duke of Beaufort, who had immediately attempted to “restore” the Abbey. The Duke’s restorative efforts, which included hammering bronze letters into the brick floor, introducing plants that compromised the structural integrity of arches and hallways, and other such harmful practices, ultimately did more damage than good to the ruins. Despite the Duke’s restorative efforts, Gilpin remained unimpressed with the Abbey, and complained that “though the parts are beautiful, the whole is ill-shaped”. Most tourists, however, generally considered Tintern Abbey to be the most important and beautiful location on the Wye Tour. Later tourists were probably familiar with Wordsworth’s famous poem “Lines,” and the importance of that piece only increased the aura of the Abbey. After walking through the ruins of the Abbey, tourists returned to their boats and sailed further down the Wye, noting the cliff “Lover’s Leap” and especially the Picturesque plains of Piercefield before arriving at the end of the Tour, the junction of the Rivers Wye
and Severn in Chepstow
. The ruins of Chepstow Castle
were the final spectacle of the Wye Tour. After arriving in Chepstow, Tourists would arrange for transportation back to their respective homes.
– it marked the first time that Gilpin discussed the Picturesque
(originally defined as “that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture") at length. As a result, the Wye Valley was more or less constantly associated with the Picturesque, and as public awareness and appreciation for the Picturesque increased, so too did the popularity of the Wye Tour.
held a temporary exhibition, 'The Wye Tour and its Artists', of period art from the Wye Tour. A catalogue and detailed guide was published.
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
. It was a popular vacation destination for British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
travelers from 1782 to around 1850, and reached its peak popularity during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, when travel (especially the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
) to Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
was not an option.
History
Although tourists had been traveling down the River Wye since the middle of the 18th century, the Wye Tour became a must-see series of destinations after the publication of William Gilpin’s Observations on the River Wye and several parts of South Wales, etc. relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the summer of the year 1770, which established the Wye river valley as an area rich in PicturesquePicturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
scenes. After Observations was published in 1782, travelers from all across Britain flocked to Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 10,089 in southeastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.-History:...
, typically used as a launching point for the Tour, and sailed downriver to Chepstow
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
, the Tour's final destination, over a course of two days.
For British travelers confined to the Hibernian Islands during the Napoleonic Wars, the Wye Tour became a replacement for the Continental Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
. In his Wye Tour (1818), Thomas Dudley Fosbroke
Thomas Dudley Fosbroke
Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke , English antiquary, was born in London.He was educated at St Paul's School and Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating MA in 1792. In that year he was ordained and became curate of Horsley, Gloucestershire, where he remained till 1810...
compared the Wye Tour to the Grecian
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Tempe
Vale of Tempe
The Vale of Tempe is a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south. The valley is 10 kilometers long and as narrow as 25 meters in places, with cliffs nearly 500 meters high, and through it flows the Pineios River on its way to the Aegean Sea...
(he called the Tour “a portrait of the celebrated Grecian Tempe enlarged”), thereby elevating the Wye Tour “to the highest level of classical beauty”.
During the early 19th century, the popularity of the Wye and other Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
Tours skyrocketed. Thousands of tourists descended upon Ross-on-Wye each summer to take a Picturesque tour, and to appreciate scenery that the fastidious Gilpin had declared “properly Picturesque.” During this time, Wye Tourists (and seekers of the Picturesque in general) were widely lampooned by British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
caricaturists (e.g., William Combe
William Combe
William Combe was a British miscellaneous writer. His early life was that of an adventurer, his later was passed chiefly within the "rules" of the King's Bench Prison. He is chiefly remembered as the author of The Three Tours of Dr. Syntax, a comic poem...
’s The Adventures of Dr. Syntax, In Search of the Picturesque) and satirical poets, who mocked their ignorance of local customs, single-minded pursuit of Picturesque views, and disregard for one another. Despite this (frequently accurate) criticism, the popularity of the tour endured until the middle of the 19th century – well after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Picturesque fad. Wye Tour destinations like Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, on 9 May 1131. It is situated in the village of Tintern, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, which forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was only the second Cistercian...
remain some of the most popular weekend destinations for British tourists to the present day
The Tour
During the height of the Wye Tour’s popularity (the first decade of the nineteenth century, there were no fewer than eight to ten “pleasure boats” launching from Ross-on-Wye towards Chepstow each day. These pleasure boats were equipped with drawing tables, at which tourists would either read travel journals (usually Gilpin’s Observations…) or sit and rapidly sketch scenes that struck them as especially Picturesque. The boats also featured canopies (to protect travelers from the sun), and crews to steer and row the boats downriver. Such boats could be retained for the price of three guineas per passenger per day. Alternately, a tourist could elect to walk along the banks of the Wye (as William WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
did before writing “Lines Composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798”), or, if they were exceptionally rich, take a private carriage.
Each Tour followed the same general itinerary. First, tourists would leave Ross-on-Wye, appreciating the “mazy course and lofty banks". of the river on the way to their next major destination, Goodrich Castle
Goodrich Castle
Goodrich Castle is a now ruinous Norman medieval castle situated to the north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye...
. Gilpin deemed the castle “correctly Picturesque”. in its own right, and the crumbling structure, entwined with vines and set on a large hill that loomed over the viewer, “was generally considered to rank as the second grand object of the tour.” From Goodrich Castle, tourists would sail past the ironworks at New Weir (sometimes spelled “New Wear”). Tourists of the time (like Thomas Whateley, who reverentially mentioned “a path [for the ironworkers], worn into steps narrow and steep, winding among the precipices” and commented on a “sullen sound that, at stated intervals from the strokes of the great hammers in the forge, deadens the roar of the water-fall”) thought of the ironworks as enhancing the Picturesque qualities of the surrounding landscape; “the natural scene itself is awesome, and therefore positively enhanced by the presence of industry". After sailing past New Weir, the boats would next pass under Symond’s Yat, a 470 feet (143.3 m) rock that impressed passers-by with a sense of the Sublime
Sublime (philosophy)
In aesthetics, the sublime is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic...
. At the end of the first day of the Tour, the travelers would arrive at the city of Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
, and spend the night in an inn. The following morning, tourists would pass riverside hamlets and Picturesque natural scenery before finally arriving at the Tour’s greatest spectacle, Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey was founded by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, on 9 May 1131. It is situated in the village of Tintern, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, which forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. It was only the second Cistercian...
. There, awestruck seekers of the Picturesque observed the bare columns and walls of what was once a massive structure, overrun with vegetation and decay. Before the Abbey was immortalized by William Wordsworth’s poem “Lines,” it was considered to be an impressive, although imperfectly-Picturesque, ruin. During the 18th century, the Abbey was purchased by the Duke of Beaufort, who had immediately attempted to “restore” the Abbey. The Duke’s restorative efforts, which included hammering bronze letters into the brick floor, introducing plants that compromised the structural integrity of arches and hallways, and other such harmful practices, ultimately did more damage than good to the ruins. Despite the Duke’s restorative efforts, Gilpin remained unimpressed with the Abbey, and complained that “though the parts are beautiful, the whole is ill-shaped”. Most tourists, however, generally considered Tintern Abbey to be the most important and beautiful location on the Wye Tour. Later tourists were probably familiar with Wordsworth’s famous poem “Lines,” and the importance of that piece only increased the aura of the Abbey. After walking through the ruins of the Abbey, tourists returned to their boats and sailed further down the Wye, noting the cliff “Lover’s Leap” and especially the Picturesque plains of Piercefield before arriving at the end of the Tour, the junction of the Rivers Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
and Severn in Chepstow
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
. The ruins of Chepstow Castle
Chepstow Castle
Chepstow Castle , located in Chepstow, Monmouthshire in Wales, on top of cliffs overlooking the River Wye, is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain...
were the final spectacle of the Wye Tour. After arriving in Chepstow, Tourists would arrange for transportation back to their respective homes.
The Wye Tour and the Picturesque
The Wye Tour was first popularized by William Gilpin’s Observations on the River Wye… (1782), a travel journal, complete with sketches. Gilpin had been encouraged to make the journey by his friend Thomas Gray, who had found the tour to be “a succession of nameless beauties”. Gilpin’s book did more than encourage English citizens to observe the beauties of the Wye ValleyWye Valley
The Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an internationally important protected landscape straddling the border between England and Wales. It is one of the most dramatic and scenic landscape areas in southern Britain....
– it marked the first time that Gilpin discussed the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
(originally defined as “that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture") at length. As a result, the Wye Valley was more or less constantly associated with the Picturesque, and as public awareness and appreciation for the Picturesque increased, so too did the popularity of the Wye Tour.
Modern exhibitions
From May to September 2010, Chepstow MuseumChepstow Museum
Chepstow Museum is a museum in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It is operated by Monmouthshire Museums Service.- Location :Chepstow Museum is located close to the town centre, opposite Chepstow Castle in Bridge Street, near the River Wye. It occupies Gwy House, a fine townhouse built...
held a temporary exhibition, 'The Wye Tour and its Artists', of period art from the Wye Tour. A catalogue and detailed guide was published.