This county was, before 1585, a part of Wales, but has since been a part of England, although the greater part of the inhabitants still speak one of the three dialects of the Welsh language; so that in some of the churches divine service is conducted in that tongue, and in others alternately in that and in English.

Monmouthshire is bounded on the north by Herefordshire, on the east by Gloucestershire, on the south by the river Severn, and on the west by the Welsh counties of Brecon and Glamorgan. Its greatest length is thirty-three miles, its greatest breadth twenty-six, and its circumference 110 miles. The square extent is 516 miles, or 330,240 acres.

The face of the country is highly diversified, exhibiting every gradation from lofty and bleak mountains to highly verdant and beautiful sequestered valleys. Some of the mountains, as the Sugar-loaf, of 1850 feet, the Blorenge, of 1720, and the Skydyawr of 1498 feet, with several others, display their summits for many months covered with snow, whilst their sides, near the bottom, are cultivated with the different species of grain, and terminate in meadows of the most luxuriant fertility. Mr Fox, in his Agricultural Survey of this county, divides it into three districts. The first, comprising the southern division, consists in part of large tracts of moor or marsh land, exhibiting in some parts of it a great depth of unctuous loamy soil, and in others a vast body of black peaty earth. In certain parts of this district the soil is of a light loamy consistence, highly favourable to the growth of various trees. Another portion is a mixture of clay and loam, forming fertile meadows; and above them is an excellent red soil, in which turnips, potatoes, and grain, liberally repay the cultivator. The second division comprehends the eastern part of the county, extending to a considerable but varying distance on both sides of the river Usk. The soil is of a faint red colour, highly grateful; and being carefully cultivated, the whole displays the appearance of great fertility. The third division comprises the western and most mountainous parts of the county. The soil on the hills is generally of a thin peaty nature, covering strata of stone, underneath which are mines of coal and iron ore, of almost unbounded productiveness. The low lands in this division are chiefly in the state of meadow and pasture, whilst the middle lands are occupied partly by pasture and partly by arable husbandry.

The rivers of this county have been generally celebrated for the picturesque scenery which their banks display, and which, added to the many remains of antiquity that are to be seen near them, invite the visits of numerous parties in the summer months, and afford the highest gratification to travellers of taste. The most eminent of these rivers, in beauty as well as utility, is the Wye. It rises on the southern side of Plinlimmon, in Montgomeryshire, and, forming the line of division between the counties of Brecon and Radnor, passes through a part of Herefordshire, and, entering this county at Dizon, becomes navigable for boats at Monmouth, and empties itself into the Severn at Chepstow. The beauties of this stream are derived from the sinuosities of its course, the uniformity of its breadth, the picturesque country through which it flows, and, amongst many other striking objects on its banks, from the Abbey of Tintern, and the mansion and grounds of Piercefield. The tide in this river rises at Chepstow to a greater height than in any other English river; at the bridge of that town the elevation varies, on some occasions, from fifty to sixty feet, and it takes place with most unusual celerity. The Usk rises in the black mountains of Brecknockshire, and, when it enters this county, passes between lofty hills, which gives its borders every variety of beauty that landscape can display. It is navigable for a short distance, but only for barges. It abounds with salmon, some of which are frequently caught in it of a most unusual size. The other rivers are the Rumney, the Mumnow, and the Ebwy, each of which has peculiar and characteristic beauties.

The heavy productions of this county, iron, coal, and limestone, have given rise to the establishment of various canals for their conveyance. The Monmouthshire Canal begins at Newport, and, dividing into two branches, connects that town, by the one with Pontypool and Pontnewyd, and by the other with Crumlin Bridge. The Brecknockshire Canal unites with this, and passes, in its course, under a hill, by means of a tunnel 360 feet in length. The county is most abundantly supplied with railroads leading from the principal mining districts to the canals; and many private mines have small railways, provincially called tram-roads, leading to the principal iron railroads, by which a facility is afforded for the conveyance of productions through a country the roads of which are eminently bad. The agricultural productions are wheat, barley, and oats; with a few peas and beans. They are sufficient for the supply of the inhabitants, and the small surplus, as well as much fruit, is sent to the markets of Bristol. On the arable lands the system of summer fallowing is pretty generally pursued. The principal manure is lime, the stone from which it is burned being most abundant. The oxen of this county are highly esteemed, both for draught and for fattening. They are usually of a deep-red colour, short in the legs, and compact in the carcass, being a cross between the breeds of Hereford and Glamorgan. They are very docile in harness, and will fatten so as to weigh from seven to nine hundredweight. They are much sought after by the English graziers, who purchase them when young, and, after employing them in labour, fatten them for the butcher. The sheep are remarkably small, and the wool is short and coarse; but the flesh is fine in the grain, and of a most delicate flavour. Of late years much improvement has been made in the flocks by judicious crosses with the Cotswold, Southdown, and Dorset sheep. The horses of the county are generally of a very meagre, light, and uncompact breed. In this county and Brecknockshire the breeding and rearing of mules is carried to a greater extent than in any other part of the island. They are found very beneficial in the hilly districts, where the mines are worked. Male asses are imported from Spain and the south of France, to propagate, and the mules are frequently of a size and strength equal to the natives of those countries.

The landed property of this county is in few hands, but divided generally into small farms, varying in rent from £70 to £200. The leases are generally for twenty-one years, and the conduct of the landlords to their tenants is liberal, and somewhat parental." Many farms are held by copy of the court-roll.

The greatest riches of Monmouthshire are derived from its mines. Coal and iron ore abound in all the hills. The facilities for interior conveyance have already been noticed. The coals of this county have, under the act of parliament for constructing the canal, the peculiar privilege of being carried to the opposite shore, including the city of Bristol and the towns on that coast, as far as Bridgewater, without paying the water-borne duty. This gives to them a monopoly of those large markets, to the exclusion of the collieries in the Forest of Dean, and of Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire. The proprietors of these last-mentioned mines have petitioned parliament to be placed on a similar footing; but, after a most patient investigation of all the circumstances in a committee, the peculiar rights of the coals brought by the Monmouthshire Canal were confirmed. The iron mines were worked as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and made a rapid progress; but, owing to the great consumption of wood, which soon caused a scarcity of fuel, they had sunk very low, till about fifty years ago, when the mode of making iron from coke was introduced. This discovery, with the improvements in machinery, has given a vast impulse to the working of the iron mines. Fifteen or sixteen works, on the largest scale, and many smaller ones, have been established. At one period the weekly delivery of pig iron and bar iron from these different works is stated to have amounted to one thousand tons.

The abundance of iron, and the facility of intercourse with Cornwall, have led to the establishment of some very extensive manufactories of tin plates. The manufactory of a kind of Japan ware was first practised in England by Thomas Allgood of Pontypool, in the reign of Charles II.; and though the skill of Birmingham has been successfully exerted to rival the town whence that ware derived its name, the business is still continued there, but upon a limited scale. The manufactory of caps, for which Monmouth was celebrated at the period when Shakspeare wrote, has long been abandoned. At Newport and Chepstow there are some considerable establishments for building ships.

Few parts of the island contain more numerous or better preserved remains of Roman and Saxon antiquity than this county. Caerleon was long the metropolis of the British dominions, and the residence of King Arthur. The ruins of the wall, about 530 yards by 480, may still be traced; and the vast masses of stones, which now appear in a confused state, show that it was formerly a place of great importance. There are many Roman encampments still visible. The remains of the abbeys of Gracedieu, Llantarnam, Llanthony, and Tintern, and of the priories of Goldcliff, Thynemarke, Monmouth, and Usk, invite the close examination of antiquaries. The castles of Abergavenny, Caerleon, Caldecot, Castell-Glas, Chepstow, Dinham, Grossmont, Llanfair, Senfrith, Strigul, Usk, and Llandeilo, are the most remarkable amongst numerous other similar buildings. The character of the architecture of the churches of Abergavenny, Caerleon, Caldecot, Chepstow, Newport, and others, discovers a very ancient origin. The antiquities of Monmouthshire would, indeed, require a volume for their delineation.

The county gives the title of Earl of Abergavenny to the family of Neville, not by creation or writ, but as possessors of the castle of that town. The Irish Marquis of Ormond derives from it the title of Baron Butler; and the Duke of Beaufort is Baron Herbert of Chepstow and Rogland, and Baron Beaufort of Caldecot Castle. The members returned to the House of Commons are two for the county, and one for the united boroughs of Monmouth, Newport, and Usk. The whole county is within the diocese of Llandaff, except three parishes, which are in St David's, and three others in that of Hereford.

The population of this county at the periods of the four decennial enumerations has been as follows: In 1801 it amounted to 45,582, in 1811 to 62,127, in 1821 to 71,833, and in 1831 to 98,200, thus having more than doubled itself in thirty years. The number of baptisms in the year 1830 was 840 males and 796 females; the burials were 617 males and 577 females; the marriages were 677; and the illegitimate children 71 males and 71 females. The number of families in the same year was 19,911, of whom 5614 were chiefly employed in agriculture, 8626 were chiefly employed in trade, manufactures, and handicraft, and the remainder, 5671, were not comprised in either of the preceding classes. The males under twenty years of age were 26,910. The occupiers of land employing labourers were 1648, those not employing labourers were 1143, and the number of labourers in agriculture was 8485. The persons employed in manufacture or making manufacturing machinery was 3203; those employed in retail trade or handicraft, as masters or as workmen, were 6640; the capitalists, bankers, professional and other educated men, amounted to 805; the labourers employed in labour not agricultural were 7173; other males twenty years of age, excepting servants, 1011; male servants under twenty years of age 122, and above twenty years 343. The female servants of all ages were 3741. The annual value of the whole real property of the county, as assessed for the income tax in 1815, was £295,097.

There are but seven towns having markets, but some others are more populous than these. Those of more than 1000 inhabitants are as follows:

| Town | Population | |-----------------------|------------| | Trevethin | 10,280 | | Newport | 7,064 | | Aberystwyth | 5,992 | | Uskawreed | 5,359 | | Monmouth | 4,916 | | Abergavenny | 4,230 | | Chepstow | 3,524 | | Mamhole | 3,208 | | Penmaen | 2,175 | | Lanover | 2,124 | | Llanwenarth | 1,956 | | Mynydd-maen | 1,918 | | Pantegue | 1,884 | | Machen | 1,173 | | Usk | 1,160 | | Caerleon | 1,070 | The seats of noblemen and gentlemen within the county are very numerous. The most remarkable are, Troyhouse, Duke of Beaufort; Bix Weir, General Rooke; Courthfield, William Vaughan, Esq.; Coldbrook, J. H. Williams, Esq.; Dynastow Court, Samuel Bosanquet, Esq.; Kesneyshouse, L. Lord, Esq.; Llanarth Court, John Jones, Esq.; Llanover, Benjamin Waddington, Esq.; Llanvitsangle, Earl of Oxford; Mamheled, W. Morgan, Esq.; Mayndec, Sir Robert Kemeys; Pen Park, — Williams, Esq.; Piercefield, late Nathaniel Wells, Esq.; Pontypool, C. H. Leigh, Esq.; Tregear, Sir Charles Morgan, Bart.; Trewyn, J. Rosier, Esq.; Wynnstow Court, Thomas Swinerton, Esq.