On the trail of the Romantics in the Welsh borders

Standing in Tintern Abbey, the atmosphere that inspired Turner, Gainsborough, Samuel Palmer and poets such as Wordsworth and Tennyson is tangible. I sheltered from a cloudburst in the nave and thought of Allen Ginsberg’s “clouds passing through skeleton arches”; seeing the vast ruin through sheets of rain as the sun went down felt particularly memorable.

The village’s fame dates back to William Gilpin’s 1782 Observations on the River Wye, which helped create the Wye Tour and the late-18th-century vogue for the “picturesque”. The recently reopened Royal George has taken local history and craft as its guiding theme rather than leaning on Tintern’s national reputation.

A building has stood on the site since the 16th century, and the inn’s name reflects local usage; salvaged timbers from the sunken HMS Royal George are said to have been used in the 1829 build, and designer Camilla Kelly even found a ship’s bell bearing the insignia of George VI, now used to call last orders.

Wales, Tintern

tintern abbey, wye tour, william gilpin, picturesque, turner, gainsborough, samuel palmer, wordsworth, tennyson, royal george