John Kyrle was the 'man of Ross'

Alexander Pope's poem 'The Man of Ross' is about John Kyrle, the local philanthropist, whom Pope saw as 'an example to greater and wealthier men how they ought to use their fortunes.' A monument to Kyrle can be found in St Mary's church and the John Kyrle walk was restored as a millennium project in 1999. There's also Kyrle Street, the Man of Ross Inn and John Kyrle High School. Samuel Taylor Coleridge also immortalised Kyrle in verse when he stayed in the town years after Kyrle had died. Charles Dickens was another literary legend to stay in Ross, at the Royal Hotel, and Dennis Potter lived in the town until his death in 1994, setting some of his work in the Forest of Dean.