The Forest of Dean: An Historical and Descriptive Account

This work offers a chronological and descriptive history of the Forest of Dean from ancient and Roman-era mining and earthworks through medieval royal administration to nineteenth-century management. It assembles accounts of ironworking practices, legal customs of free miners, perambulations, enclosures, and the impact of wars and industrial changes on woodland and industry. It details 17th–19th-century surveys, commissions, Acts, plantation schemes, and local disputes over timber, mines, and common rights. It also describes the Forest's inhabitants, their customs, institutions, churches, and schools, and includes reports, orders, and contemporary observations to illustrate changing social, economic, and environmental conditions.