The Kymin 

Signposted off the road to the Forest of Dean (be careful of the sharp right hand bend), a drive up to the top of the Kymin is rewarded by a breathtaking view of Monmouth Town, the Forest of Dean, Herefordshire, and the Black Mountains.

Kymin Naval Temple

The hill has a Naval Temple on its summit, constructed in 1800 to commemorate the second anniversary of the British Naval victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and in recognition of sixteen of the British Royal Navy Admirals who had delivered significant victories in other major sea battles of the age around the globe to that date.

The square Naval Temple has round plaques or medallions, four on each face, for each Admiral and the victory with which they were most closely associated and its date.

Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson himself visted Monmouth in 1802, along with Lady Hamilton, and her older husband, Lord William Hamilton (diplomat), who was to die by April 1803.

They travelled down river on the River Wye from Ross-on-Wye, alighting in Monmouth to cannonades firing, the town band playing and to be greeted by the mayor accompanied by all the local dignitaries of the county and cheering crowds of locals.

Staying in Monmouth for just a couple of days, Nelson visited the Naval Temple and the Roundhouse on Kymin Hill, where he breakfasted and greatly admired the views.

He was particularly struck with the Naval Temple, saying that "it was the only monument of its kind erected to the Royal Navy in the Kingdom".

That this should be done not in one of Britains major naval ports but in a small provincial county town in Wales far from the sea and with no great naval or seafaring traditions staid with Nelson.

This was of course three years before his own glorious victory, and death, at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and Nelson's Column would not be built until 1843.

The Britannia Monument, to Nelson, in Great Yarmouth would not be built until 1817. Monmouth has its own Nelson Museum in the town centre, started by Lady Llangattock, mother of Charles Rolls.

The Roundhouse, Kymin Hill

The Roundhouse is a white round tower, in two storeys with a crenellated roof, similar to a folly, constructed on the wishes and from the pockets of a group of Monmouth's gentlemen, in 1793, who wished for a venue suitable for their regular meetings, dining and events, especially in the summer months.

To this end it was designed and built with kitchens and a banqueting room, with powerful telescopes fitted on the roof in season to fully take in the views.

It was claimed that nine counties could be viewed from the roof, including (Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, Breconshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Radnorshire, Shropshire and Caernarvonshire.

A bowling green was laid outside.

This is now owned by The National Trust as is the Naval Temple nearby, commemorating sixteen admirals whose distinguished themselves in sea battles in the eighteenth century.