Catalogue description Forestry Commission and predecessors: Director of Forestry for England, Correspondence and Papers, Dean Forest

The Forest of Dean has one or two local institutions which exist in few if any other places; for example the Verderers Court. Since the later Norman days the inhabitants of the Forest of Dean and the land immediately surrounding have had various rights in the forest, and it is the verderers who have some jurisdiction over disputes about, and offences against, these rights. The commoners, as those who are entitled to the rights of the forest are known, are permitted to graze a certain number of animals in those parts of the forest which are thrown open to them, and were once able to cut turf and collect wood sufficient for their personal need. Many of these rights were commuted over the years, but a few still remain.

Mines and quarries have existed within the boundaries of the Forest of Dean since the Roman occupation or even earlier. Here also the inhabitants of the area have had privileges unknown elsewhere. The Crown leases land to the individual freeminers, with the right to mine iron, coal or even in some cases gold and silver, and to quarry stone, in return for an annual rent and a small royalty on produce. These areas of land are known as gales, and the granting of them is arranged through the Deputy Gaveller, who keeps a record of the galees of all mines and quarries.