In May 2020 the specialist international beekeeping charity organisation Bees for Development announced that Monmouth had become a "Bee Town", the first of its kind in the UK. As well as being home to the charity, the town hosts an annual Bee Festival" various bee-themed events, and its County and Town Councils have special policies in place for pollinators. Notable people People associated with Monmouth include Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Oxford-based cleric, born in about 1100 and believed to be originally from the area, who wrote Historia Regum Britanniae, the "History of British Kings". Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Guardian of England, died at the castle in 1295, and King Edward II was briefly imprisoned there in 1326. The future Henry V, the victor at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, was born in the castle in 1386. Philip Evans, Jesuit priest and martyr, was born in the town in 1645. Horatio Nelson visited Monmouth on several occasions, and in 1802 after giving his approval to the Kymin Naval Temple gave a speech In the Beaufort, a local inn, in which he praised the local people and their dedicated loyalty to the monarchy of the United Kingdom. After his death, the garden where he famously dined with Lady Hamilton after the speech was named the Nelson Garden. A museum dedicated to him is also in Monmouth. William Allen was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), and is buried in Monmouth Cemetery. Despite severe wounds, he and Frederick Hitch kept communication with the hospital open, enabling its patients to be withdrawn. Rockfield Studios, situated just outside the town, are where the band Queen recorded parts of their hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975, and where Oasis recorded their multi-million selling album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? in 1995. Musician Dave Edmunds, a "permanent fixture" at Rockfield Studios for twenty years, lives in the town. Other former or current residents of the area have included poet and singer-songwriter Jake Thackray, rugby international and commentator Eddie Butler, television presenter Kate Humble, historian and TV presenter Professor Saul David, astrologer Russell Grant, and historian Keith Kissack. Monmouth is the home of composer, organist and choirmaster Robert Jones. Gallery See also Outline of Wales References External links Monmouth Town Council Monmouth Town Guide Old photos of Monmouth Old photos and info on Monmouth's railway