The Forest of Dean: An Historical and Descriptive Account — Reading Notes

Personal Observation and Documentary Sources

Nicholls emphasizes that his account is derived from personal observation as well as public, private, legendary, and local sources. As perpetual curate of Holy Trinity in the Forest, he had direct access to the landscape and its inhabitants. The preface thanks officers of the government, gentlemen of the neighbourhood, and intelligent Foresters who aided in execution. This blend of fieldwork and archival research gives the work a distinctive texture: legal records sit alongside local traditions, and the author's own inspections of sites like the Buck Stone and Symmond's Yat are woven into the narrative.

The text frequently reproduces documents verbatim, such as the official Report on the Forest issued in 1851, which provides precise figures on coal and iron mine output, timber sales, and litigation over mining customs. Nicholls does not merely summarize; he lets the original language stand, trusting that the reader will derive pleasure from these primary materials. This method makes the book a repository of sources as much as a synthetic history.

Iron, Coal, and the Free Miners' Franchise

A central thread is the ancient iron-mining industry. Nicholls traces workings back to Roman times, describing the Scowles and other ancient iron-mines. He discusses the Free Miners' Franchise, which he suggests may date from William I, and notes that mining was later restricted to foresters. The excerpts show a persistent tension between customary rights and Crown control, culminating in nineteenth-century litigation over dead rent and royalties.

The 1851 report records that 335,687 tons of coal and 80,531 tons of iron mine were raised in a single year, and that gales of coal had been granted to pits with names like Cousin's Engine, Beaufort, and Fox Hole. These details ground the narrative in specific industrial activity. Nicholls also notes the shift from ancient forges to blast furnaces, and the re-smelting of old iron cinders in new furnaces, illustrating technological change within a continuous tradition.

Timber, Bark, and Naval Supply

The Forest of Dean was a crucial source of timber for the Royal Navy. Nicholls records that in 1851 arrangements were made for felling 553 loads of timber for naval use under the Queen's sign-manual. He then describes the advice of Mr. Brown, a Scottish surveyor, who recommended circular sawing to reduce timber to portable size, and changes in bark-stripping practice: bark should be removed after felling, not from standing trees, and cured on stages rather than set on end.

These passages reveal a practical, managerial perspective. Nicholls includes details about thinning regimens, the reduction of keepers to three, and the marking of specific enclosures for felling—Russell's Enclosure, Howler's Slade, Church Hill, Park End. The emphasis on efficiency and yield reflects the Victorian drive to maximize Crown revenue, but also shows the author's interest in the physical processes of woodland management.

Legal Disputes and Parliamentary Reform

Nicholls devotes considerable attention to legal conflicts over mining rights and rents. The case of Lord Seymour versus Morrell, tried before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, involved arrears of dead rent amounting to £1,291 1s. 2d., with a verdict for the Crown later confirmed by the Court of Queen's Bench. The 1851 report notes that litigation had almost entirely ceased under the Act of 1 & 2 Vict., c. 43, which regulated mine openings and working customs.

Yet arrears of minimum rent had accumulated to £12,805 8s. 2½d., as some miners refused payment when no minerals were raised. Nicholls presents these figures without commentary, letting the numbers speak to the complexity of customary rights versus contractual obligations. The excerpts also mention grants of land for schools and churches at Viney, Blakeney Hill, Ruerdean Woodside, and the Hawthorns, showing how Forest revenues supported local institutions.

Readers approaching Nicholls's work should expect a dense interweaving of legal documents, statistical reports, and local lore. The book rewards those who read with attention to the original sources quoted, as these form the backbone of the narrative. Because the excerpts are incomplete, the full scope of legendary and personal observation material remains to be discovered. The work is best read as a Victorian antiquarian's compilation, where the author's voice emerges through selection and arrangement rather than overt argument.

That afternoon, the rain drummed on the roof while I traced the Forest of Dean’s old ironworks and vanished boundary stones in Nicholls’s patient margins. The sense of a landscape carrying its history beneath the surface stayed with me. Later, almost by accident, I found myself reading Through deserts and oases of central Asia — Context and Discussion, and remembered how any ground holds its own forgotten paths.