DEAN, FOREST OF

This article appears in Volume V07, Page 898 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: DAH-DEM

DEAN, FOREST OF , a

district

DISTRICT

in the west of Gloucestershire, England, between the Severn and the Wye. It extends northwa.rd in an oval form from the junction of these rivers, for a distance of 20 m., with an extreme breadth of so m., and still retains its true forest character. The surface is agreeably undulating, its

elevation

ELEVATION

ranging from 12o to nearly s000 ft., and its sandy peat soil renders it most suitable for the growth of timber, which is the cause of its having been a royal forest from time immemorial. It is recorded that the commanders of the Armada had orders not to leave in it a tree

standing

STANDING

. In the reign of Charles I." the forest contained 105,537 trees, and, straitened for money, the king granted it to Sir John Wyntour for Io,000, and a fee farm rent of 2000. The grant was cancelled by Cromwell; but at the Restoration only 30,000 trees were left, and Wyntour, the Royalist

commander

COMMANDER

, having got another grant, destroyed all but 200 trees fit for navy timber. In 168o an act was passed to enclose r i,000 acres and plant with oak and beech for

supply

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

of the dockyards; and the present forest, though not containing. very many gigantic oaks, has six " walks " covered with timber in various stages of growth.
The forest is locally governed by two crown-appointed deputy gavellers to superintend the woods and mines, and four verderers elected by the freeholders, whose office, since the extermination of the deer in 185o, is almost purely honorary. From time immemorial all persons born in the hundred of St Briavel's, who
Ia
have worked a year and a day in a coal mine, become " free miners," and may

work

WORK

coal in any part of the forest not previously occupied. The forest

laws

LAWS

were administered at the Speech-

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, a building of the 17th century in the heart of the forest, where the verderers' court is still held. The

district

DISTRICT

contains coal and iron mines, and quarries of building-stone, which fortunately hardly minimize its natural beauty. Near Coleford and Westbury pit workings of the Roman period have been discovered, and the Romans drew large supplies of iron from this district. The scenery is especially fine in the high ground bordering the Wye (q.v.), opposite to Symond's Yat above Monmouth, and Tintern above Chepstow. St Briavel's Castle, above Tintern, was the headquarters of the forest officials from an early date and was frequented by King John. It is a moated castle, of which the north-west front remains,

standing

STANDING

in a magnificent position high above the Wye.
See H. G. Nicholls, Forest of Dean (London, 1858).

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