The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire

t THE Forest of Dean is the name given to the part of Gloucestershire situated in the angle formed by the river Wye and the course of the lower Severn. It was once an important royal forest and it is underlain by a coalfield bearing the same name. It was the accepted opinion for many years that the South Wales and Forest of Dean Coalfields were originally united. Folding from the north and south took place in late Carboniferous times and gave the basin-like form to the two coalfields, and at a later period denudation along the Usk anticline separated the two fields. The area is formed almost entirely of Carboniferous rocks enclosing the Coal measures of the Forest (Figs. 1 and 3). It is doubtful if there is a perfect coal basin, forming a complete industrial unit, in such a small area, to be found anywhere else. The small size (roughly 9 x 12 miles) has made it possible to make a detailed study of the relief-and structure, to visit the industrial towns and villages, to descend the coal mines and to wander through the remains of the beautiful forest which contributed to the Hearts of Oak of Henry VI II's navy, and to get into close touch with the inhabitants, whether they be Free Miners or Foresters, and to learn something of their history and the geographical conditions which have played such an important part in the development in what has been, until quite recently, a self-contained industrial unit. The rocks surrounding the Coalfield form a rim which is highest in the west and north where it is marked by isolated hills, e.g. Ruardean Hill, Staunton Meend, and Howle Hill. On the east there is a well-defined escarpment facing east and continuing unbroken for five or six miles. On this eastern brink we have the ridges, Edge Hill and Staple Edge. Travelling south by road from Micheldean to Little Dean, the character of this edge is realized as it rises high on the right. So the Forest is practically enclosed by a rim of higher land except on the south, from which direction routes penetrate into the heart of the area, the valley of the Cannop Brook dividing it nearly in half

Geography · Archaeological Research and Protection · Forestry