MON 



Mon- 



roouthihire. Length of pared itreets and turnpikei in 1811, 

 . all other turnpikes, 



Kstimated value of labour employed on them, 

 Composition money, . . 



Highway rates, 

 Law expenses, 



Total, 10,664 



History. At the time of the Roman invasion, this county was 

 comprehended in the Silurian territory. It was after. 

 wards called Givent. It was never completely con- 

 quered during the Saxon dynasty. William I. how- 

 ever, in a great measure subdued it, by directing his 

 barons to make incursions at their own expence, and 

 granting them the lands they .conquered, to hold un- 

 der feudal tenure. These barons, however, afterwards 

 entrenched in strong castles, bid defiance to their So- 

 vereign ; feuds and animosities also arose between 

 them. At length Henry VIII. abolished their petty 

 governments, and added Monmouthshire to the Eng- 

 lish counties. It was still, however, considered in law 

 as a Welsh county, till the time of Charles II. It 

 abounds in antiquities, or rather in ruins, highly pic- 

 turesque in themselves, and rendered still more so by 

 the scenery of the surrounding country. The most ce- 

 lebrated of these are Tintern Abbey and the Castle of 

 Chepstow. Piercefield, near Chepstow, the once cele- 

 brated seat of Valentine Morris, may also be noticed, 

 as uniting, with wonderful taste and effect, all the 

 softer and richer beauties of this most interesting coun- 

 try. Raglan Castle is another place worth noticing, 

 on account of its ruins, and the valiant defence it made 

 in favour of Charles I. under the Marquis of Wor- 

 cester. 



Poer-rates. The following are the results of the last returns to 

 Parliament respecting the poor-rates of this county, for 

 the year 1815: 



G52 



MON 



Annual value of real property. 

 Poor, and other parochial rates, 

 lUte in the 



Expended in maintenance of the poor, 



in lawsuits and removals, 



Militia expenses, 

 Church rates, &c. 



Total expenditure, 



Poor supported out of workhousei, 

 -^ in workhouses, 

 i occasionally, 



295,097 

 38,650 



26J 



27,049 



1878 



583 



11,209 



Total, 



Members of Friendly Societies, . 



Donations for Palish Schools, 

 for other purpose* 



Total, 949 



Poor, and other parochial rates in 1776, 7468 



. average of 1783, 4, 5, - 9989 



_ of 1803, - - . 25,048 



average of 1813, 14, 15, - - 37,846 



Total relieved in 1803, . - 3430 

 average of 18 13, 14, 15, - 4122 



Members of Friendly Societies in 1803, 3799 



average of 1813, 14. 15, - 7923 



Number of persons relieved, on an average of 181S, 



14, and 15, 6^ in each 100. The average rate levied Men- 

 on each individual, 12s. 2|d. The average sum for mouthshire, 

 support of each poor person annually, 6, Ids. 5^d. 

 1-1 9th of the money raised, expended on law; and 

 l-34th for militia purposes |th for all other purposes 

 total expended, independent of maintenance of th 

 poor, is -^d. 13 in each 100, members of friendly so- 

 cieties. 



In the hilly district enclosed by the Usk and the 

 Rumney, which once formed a little principality, and 

 which is said to have been left undisturbed by the Ro- 

 mans, Saxons, and Normans, the customs and manners 

 of ancient Britain are preserved more pure than in any 

 other part of Wales. The following are the results of 

 the last returns to Parliament respecting the popula- 

 tion of this county. 



Population in the year 1 700 

 1750 

 1801 

 1811 



39,700 

 40,00 

 47,100 

 02,127 



One baptism to 4>7 persons ; one burial to 64 per- 

 sons ; and one marriage to 1 53 persons ; the last is a 

 very small proportion, the average of England being 

 one marriage to 120 persons. The total number of 

 baptisms, from 1801 to 1810, both inclusive, was 11,834; 

 of burials, 8832 ; and of marriages, 4058. The small 

 number of burials and marriages, compared to the po- 

 pulation, and the low proportion of baptisms to mar- 

 riages, are very striking ; particular enquiry was made, 

 in consequence, into the parish register returns, but 

 without discovering the cause. 



Houses inhabited in 1811, 



Families occupying them, . 



Houses building 



uninhabited, 



Families employed in agriculture, 



. in trade, 



All others, ... 



.Males, 



Females, ... 



Total in 1811, 

 Population in 1801 



Increase since 1801, 



126 to each 

 square mile. 



See Coxe's Picture of Monmouthshire. Warner's Walks 

 in Wales. Evans's Tour in South Wales. Beautiet of 

 England and Wales, vol. ii. (w. s.) 



MONMOUTH, the county town of Monmouthshire, 

 in the hundred of Skenfreth, lies in an angle between 

 the Wye and the Mynnow. It is a borough and cor- 

 porate town, governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, and 

 common councilmen. It returns one member to Par- 

 liament, in conjunction with the inhabitants of New- 

 port and Usk. This privilege was conferred on it by 

 Henry VIII. It is accommodated with four bridges; 

 one across the Wye, on the road to Gloucester; two 

 over the Mynnow, and one over the Trothy. The 

 streets, which are in the form of the letter H, are in 

 some parts broad and convenient, but in other places 

 narrow and irregular. "The castle, once a place of great 

 strength, and celebrated for having been the birth- 

 place of Henry V., who bore the name of Henry of 

 Monmouth, is now almost entirely in ruins. It stood 

 on the rise of an eminence, on the banks of the Myn. 

 now. The east end of the church is much admired as 

 a fine specimen of Gothic architecture. The county 



