Market House

Ross-on-Wye

History

Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: Rhosan ar Wy) is a historic market town situated in the Welsh borders and is on the end of the M50 motorway. It is dominated by the church spire and situated high on a sandstone cliff overlooking a large loop in the beautiful River Wye. The name "Ross-on-Wye" is derived from the Welsh or Celtic for 'a promontory' and the 'on Wye' part was added in 1931. Nearby is Wilton which grew up around a ford in the River Wye which is now the site of Wilton Bridge. It is likely that Wilton would have grown larger than Ross-on-Wye except that regular flooding caused people to choose the higher ground that most of Ross is now built upon.

Ross-on-Wye was granted a coat of arms in 1953. (Click for a larger image)

Ross-on-Wye is placed in the heart of rural Herefordshire and in the picturesque Wye Valley. The location and easy access to the marvelous scenery has made it a magnet for tourists and this was at its peak in Victorian times when it was a popular resort. Ross-on-Wye was part of the 'Wye Tour', a less expensive and less time consuming alternative to the 'Grand Tour'.

One of the most famous views of Ross (Click for a larger image)

This 'Tour' was taken by nobleman in the 18th century after they completed their education with a period of European travel. This so-called Grand Tour would last anything from a few months to 8 years, so only the very wealthy, with the time and means to travel, could participate.

The 'Wye Tour' initially allowed the middle classes to escape from the dirty, industrial cities to the clean air of the Wye Valley and feel they had had a similar experience. This was further improved up when the the railways came to Ross making it easier for even the working class to travel out to see the Wye and surrounding scenery.

Ross from the Rudhall Road (Click for a larger image)

The Town

The Ross Gazette Shop (now Colemans Stationers) (Click for a larger image)

The town consists of Tudor timbered houses clustered around the 17th Century Sandstone Market Hall. To the left is one of the remaining Tudor buildings in Ross-on-Wye. This was the house where John Kyrle lived who was a major benefactor of Ross (more details later ...).

Ross Market

Ross (along with Ledbury) was granted the right to hold a market in 1138 by King Stephen, although it is thought that markets may have already been running in both of the towns. This was the first official recognition of the importance of the town.

Ross Market (Click for a larger image)

Maps

Ross-on-Wye from a 1952 OS map Reproduced from the 1952 Ordnance Survey map. © Crown copyright.

Hedgehogs

Ross has an association with hedgehogs and this can be seen around the town as hedgehogs are in various crests and logos. This seems to relate back 1500 years when the Celts invaded Ross on Wye and called the area "Ergyng" which meant "Land of the Hedgehog". This was changed in Saxon times to Arkenfeld and later again to Archenfield.

St. Mary's Church has many examples of the connection and has atleast fourteen representations of hedgehogs in various guises, the shield in the Markye Chapel contains nine on its own.

Historical References

Earliest references ...

HMS Ross

HMS Ross (J45) was built by Lobnitz in Renfrew (Glasgow) Scotland as a WWI Royal Navy Hunt Class Minesweeper and was launched 12 June 1919. Lobnitz usual line of business was the building of fishing trawlers but in this time of need their skills were utilised to produce Naval craft. HMS Ross was a modified Hunt Class Minesweeper normally known as Aberdare Class or Aberdare Group Minesweepers (to which HMS Aberdare (J49) gave its name).

Picture to follow

Originally she was named HMS Ramsey, but was renamed prior to launch; HMS Ross was not named after Ross-on-Wye but after the District of Ross in Scotland and being as it was a Hunt Class it was actually named after the Ross Hunt [as in Fox Hunt]. Also it has been the only "HMS Ross" in the Royal Navy but by comparison there have been two HMS Ledbury and seven HMS Monmouth.

In 1940, HMS Ross was serving with the 5th Minesweeping Flotilla and along with the rest of her flotilla, she took part in Operation Dynamo. Operation Dynamo was the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. This involved making a number of trips and ended up with more than 1,000 men being taken off.

During the operation her captain was wounded on the first trip so her first lieutenant, Kenneth Gadd, took over the command. This resulted in him being awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for his actions and he was allowed to remain in command until February 1943. During his command, in 1941, HMS Ross had a narrow escape when it was attacked by a German bomber a few miles out of Aberdeen. The plane dropped a bomb which passed through her bow without exploding and it only left its tail fin behind¹.

In 1941 Warship Week was organised and during which the Admiralty asked all the Towns and Counties in the country to adopt a Ship. As a result, on 6 December 1941, HMS Ross was formally adopted by Ross-on-Wye and the association remained until she was decommissioned in 1945. HMS Ross was sold for scrap on the 13 March 1947.

An original Ships Crest was presented to the town and it adorned the Mayors chair in the Town Council Chamber for many years. More recently it has been loaned to TS Ross, the local Sea Cadet Unit, for safe keeping and it can be seen on their maindeck for the public to see².

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¹ HMS Ross (J45) - Wikipedia @ 21/2/2010
² Ross, Ledbury and Monmouth - Royal Naval Warships - The Ross Gazette, Wednesday February 17th, 2010
* http://units.ms-sc.org/rossonwye/Default - ROSS & MONMOUTH SEA CADETS

Past and Present

Market House