The memorial is dedicated to the memory of John Whitehead Warre who drowned in the nearby River Wye 'The Deceitful Stream'.
The inscription reads:
'Sacred to the memory of JOHN WHITEHEAD WARRE, who perished near this spot, whilst bathing in the river Wye, in sight of his afflicted parents, brother, and sister, on the 11th of September, 1804, in the sixteenth year of his age.
GOD'S WILL BE DONE
Who, in his mercy, hath granted consolation to the parents of the dear departed, in the reflection, that he possessed truth, innocence, filial piety, and fraternal affection, in the highest degree. That, but a few moments before he was called to a better life, he had (with a never to be forgotten piety) joined his family in joyful thanks to his Maker, for the restoration of his mother's health. His parents, in justice to his amiable virtue, and excellent disposition, declare, that he was void of offence towards them. With humbled hearts they bow to the Almighty's dispensation; trusting, through the mediation of his blessed Son, he will mercifully receive their child he so suddenly took to himself.
This MONUMENT is here erected to warn Parents and Others to be
..........they trust the deceitful Stream and particularly to exhort
them .........and observe the directions of the Humane Society for the
recovery of Persons apparently drowned. Alas! it is with the extremest Sorrow here commemorated what anguish is felt from the want of this knowledge.
The lamented Youth swam very well, was endowed with great bodily Strength and activity and possibly, had proper applications been used, might have been saved from his untimely Fate. He was born at OPorto in the Kingdom of
............14th of February 1780. Third Son of JAMES WARRE of
...........of the County of Somerset, Merchant and Eleanor
........of THOMAS GREG of Belfast Esqr.'
The inscription becomes harder to read at the base but describes the memorial's purpose as a warning to others.
There was a poem written by Robert Bloomfield after the tragedy, who was touring the area. Here is an extract from the poem:
'The Banks of the Wye
Close on the bank, and half o'ergrown, Beneath a dark wood's sombrous frown,
A monumental stone appears, Of one who in his blooming years,
While bathing spurn'd the grassy shore, And sunk, midst friends, to rise no more;
By parents witness'd--Hark! their shrieks! The dreadful language horror speaks!
But why in verse attempt to tell That tale the stone records so well?'
Robert Bloomfield (1811)
As a result of the tragedy the local church at Coldwell set-up a Humane Society for water-related trauma.
There are railings around the memorial and a stone urn on the top. It is surrounded by vegetation.
Source: waymarking.com