Catalogue description Records of the Forest of Dean

Details of Division within F
Reference: Division within F
Title: Records of the Forest of Dean
Description:

Records relating to the administration of the Forest of Dean and properties witihn it.

Records of the Deputy Surveyor's Office, including those relating to the Freeminers' Court and the Verderers' Court, are in F 16; those of the Deputy Gaveller's Office are in F 26. Deeds and evidences relating to property in the forest are in F 15, and manorial documents relating to English Bicknor and other manors in Gloucestershire are in F 14
Date: 1662-1946
Related material:

For correspondence and papers relating to the administration of the forest, see F 3

For maps, plans, and drawings, see F 17

For enclosure commissions for the forest, see J 124
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Forestry Commission, Forest of Dean Deputy Surveyors Office, 1919-1967

Office of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, Forest of Dean Deputy Surveyors Office, 1860-1919
Physical description: 4 series
Administrative / biographical background:

The Forest of Dean in the counties of Gloucester, Hereford, and Monmouth was until 1969 independent of the South West Conservancy, having its own Deputy Surveyor. It is by no means heavily wooded throughout, substantial stretches being covered by scrub vegetation. Residents of the area have enjoyed special privileges since medieval times, and peculiar local institutions survive, such as the verderers' court, which has jurisdiction over forest offences and inhabitants.

Mines and quarries have existed within the bounds of the forest since Roman times, and here too the inhabitants have had privileges unknown elsewhere. The crown leases land to individual freemeners with the right to mine or quarry, in return for an annual rent and a small royalty in produce. These areas of land are known as gales, and the granting is arranged through the deputy gaveller, who maintains records of the gales.

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