Ross-on-Wye

The Prospect

The Prospect is opposite the church, this is a neat public garden populated by ancient trees.

The first view through the gates into the Prospect
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The Prospect was created by John Kyrle and offers superb views over the Wye, which is a hundred feet below, right out to the Welsh mountains. This piece of land was rented by John Kyrle off the Marquess of Bath in 1696 and turned into a garden and walking area.

In around 1870 there were some problems over land ownership. James Barrett built the Royal Hotel and took some of the Prospect to make the gardens for the hotel. As a result of this, there were massive riots by the towns folk of Ross as they believed that the Prospect belonged to the town and that Barrett had taken the land off them. As a result, Thomas Blake eventually resolved the issue and paid for the land to transferred to the towns people forever and the garden was then laid out similarly to the format seen there today.

The Prospect from the south-east corner
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The view over the river
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The view over the landscape
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The Prospect also has some interesting stone work and the church is again the backdrop.

The Prospect, as designed by John Kyrle, was square with four entrances, one in the centre of each of its sides. Unfortunately the building of Wilton Road in 1833, changed the landscape west of the Prospect meaning that there was no longer room for an entrance there and in 1837 James Barrett took over part of the Prospect for the use of the Royal Hotel patrons. This resulted in the removal of the northern gate and halved the size the garden.

A gateway between the prospect and church yard called 'Kerles' or 'Kyrles' Gateway and was built by John Kyrle in 1700
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The Church through the trees
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Here we see a photographic postcard view (published by Valentine's) of the Prospect from circa. 1939. There are various flower beds and the entrance from the church yard can be seen in the distance.

An old view of the Prospect
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An old view of the Prospect entrance
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Here we see a postcard view, unknown publisher, from around 1905 looking out of the Prospect gateway back into the churchyard with the back of the church tower in the distance.

Many thanks to Richard Mayo for allowing me to use this card

The Prospect also contains Ross' War Memorial for World War 1 and a V.E. day beacon that was lit on the 8^th May 1995 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Victory in Europe.

The war memorial has since been moved to the centre of the Prospect as a result of the excavations of the Roman remains in the south-west corner.

The War Memorials (in the original position)
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The Prospect is dominated by the ancient trees and the many birds and animals that utilise them.

A squirrel eating the chestnuts falling from the ancient trees in the Prospect
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A robin in the Prospect
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Old Photos of The Prospect

A view of the Prospect
[published by R. E. Davis]
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This is a postcard view of the Prospect with various people standing and sitting around in it. To the right can be seen one of the big guns that used to be on either side of John Kyrle's Gate.

This is a postcard view of the Prospect from circa 1939. There are various flower beds on either side of the paths and the entrance from the churchyard can be seen in the distance.

The Prospect Gardens
[published by Valentines]
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The entrance to the Prospect
(unknown publisher)
[thanks to Richard Mayo]
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This is a postcard view from around 1905 looking out of the Prospect gateway back into the churchyard. The back of the church tower can just about be seen in the distance.

This is the Prospect looking west back across the Prospect towards the River. Various trees and arches for flowers to grow over can be seen in the garden. Various people can be seen in the photo sitting on the benches.

The Prospect Ross-on-Wye
[No. 8763 - Unknown publisher]
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Old Photos of The Prospect

The the postcard below-left, the arches, or ones similar, seen above can be seen covered in plants and flowers. In the background can be seen the giant Elm trees that used to grow in the Churchyard, these can be more clearly seen in the postcard below right.