Prehistory The area was inhabited in
Mesolithic times, and there are also remains of later
megalithic monuments, including the Longstone near
Staunton and the Broadstone at Wibdon,
Stroat.
Barrows have been identified at
Tidenham and
Blakeney.
Bronze Age field systems have been identified at Welshbury Hill near
Littledean, and there are
Iron Age hill forts at
Symonds Yat and Welshbury. There is archaeological evidence of early trading by sea, probably through
Lydney. Before
Roman times, the area may have been occupied by the
British Dobunni tribe, although few of their coins have been found in the area and control may have been contested with the neighbouring
Silures.
Roman Britain The area was occupied by the Romans in around AD 50. They were attracted by its natural resources which included
iron ore,
ochre and
charcoal. The
coal mining industry was probably established on a small scale in Roman times. The area was governed from the Roman town of
Ariconium at
Weston under Penyard near
Ross-on-Wye, and a road was built from there to a river crossing at
Newnham on Severn and port at Lydney. The "Dean Road", still visible at
Soudley, is believed to be a medieval rebuilding of the
Roman road, and would have been an important route to transport
iron ore and finished metal products. During Roman times there were
Roman villas at Blakeney,
Woolaston and elsewhere, and towards the end of the Roman period, around AD 370, a major
Roman temple complex dedicated to the god
Nodens was completed at Lydney. The central parts of the woodlands in the forest are believed to have been protected for hunting since Roman times.
Medieval The area formed part of the
Cantref Coch and was traditionally considered part of the
Brythonic kingdom of
Ergyng, centered in modern Herefordshire. Even when the area came under Anglo-Saxon control, the Forest of Dean remained under the auspices of the
diocese of
Hereford, rather than Gloucester. The
Beachley and
Lancaut peninsulas east of the Lower Wye remained in Welsh control at least until the 8th century. The ancient rights were put on the statute books in the
Dean Forest (Mines) Act 1838, the only public act to affect private individuals. Residents of the hundred over 18 can graze sheep in the Forest in accordance with an agreement between Forestry England and the Commoners Association. In October 2010 a woman won the right to be classified as a Freeminer. Elaine Morman, an employee at
Clearwell Caves in the Forest, who had worked as a miner of
ochre for a number of years, raised a claim of
sexual discrimination against the
Forestry Commission. After
Mark Harper MP raised the matter in the
House of Commons, the
Forestry Commission reversed its position and agreed to register her.
Early modern period The forest was used exclusively as a
royal hunting ground for the
Tudors, and subsequently a source of food for the royal court. Its rich deposits of iron ore led to its becoming a major source of iron. The forest's timber was particularly fine, and was regarded as the best material for building ships. In the 17th century, as a result of King
Charles I's decision to
rule without Parliament, he sought to raise finances through grants of royal forest lands. of the Forest of Dean was disafforested in the 1620s, causing a
series of riots in 1631–32; this was part of enclosure riots across the South West commonly known as the Western Rising. In 1639 were disafforested, with going to manorial lords and freeholders in compensation. were to go to the Crown, and be sold on to Sir
John Winter. Riots ensued in 1641. Winter's claim to the lands was voided by Parliament in March 1642, in part because he had failed to pay. His assets were sequestrated for supporting the Crown during the
Civil War. The
Protectorate tried to enclose a third of the forest in 1657, leaving two thirds to the commoners. Although a relatively generous settlement, it caused resistance in April and May 1659, when fences of new enclosures were broken and cattle brought in to graze. Royalists including
Edward Massey attempted to bring the discontented to the side of
Charles II. After the restoration Sir John Winter successfully reasserted his right to the Forest of Dean. However forest law was re-established by an act of Parliament, the
Dean Forest Act 1667 (
19 & 20 Cha. 2. c. 8) in 1668. In 1672 the king's ironworks were closed to reduce pressure on the forest from mining. The
Speech House, between
Coleford and
Cinderford, was built in 1682 to host the Court of Mine Law and "Court of the Speech", a sort of parliament for the
Verderers and
Free Miners managing the forest, game, and mineral resources. Colloquially known as the "Verderer's Court". The Gaveller and his deputy were responsible for leasing gales – areas allocated for mining – on behalf of the Crown. Despite the abundance of coal, it was not until the last decade of the 18th century that local
ironmasters were prepared to invest in the technology needed to produce iron from
coke, when coke-fired furnaces at
Cinderford,
Whitecliff and
Parkend were built almost simultaneously. During the 18th century, squatters established roughly-built hamlets around the fringes of the Crown forest demesne. By about 1800, these settlements were well established at
Berry Hill and
Parkend. In 1808
Parliament passed the
Dean and New Forests Act 1808, which included the provision to enclose of woodland. This enclosure was carried out between 1814 and 1816. There were bread riots in 1795 and in 1801. Ordinary Foresters were already poverty-stricken, and their plight had grown worse. They were denied access to the enclosed areas and unable to hunt or remove timber. In particular, they lost their ancient grazing and mining rights. Over the next few days more troops arrived from around the country. The Foresters' resistance crumbled and most of those arrested elected to rebuild the enclosures, rather than be charged with rioting. James was sentenced to death but his sentence was later commuted to transportation. He was sent to
Van Diemen's Land (
Tasmania) in October 1831, only to be pardoned five years later, although he never returned home. Conservatives were disliked in the Forest of Dean; on polling day in 1874, there was a riot in the market town of Cinderford in which the Conservative party headquarters and nearby houses were ransacked and damaged.
"Who killed the bears?" On 26 April 1889, four Frenchmen and their two
bears were making their way to
Ruardean, having performed in Cinderford. They were attacked by an angry mob, enraged by claims that the bears had killed a child and injured a woman. The bears were killed and the Frenchmen badly beaten. It soon became clear that the bears had not attacked anyone. Police proceedings followed and a week later 13 colliers and labourers appeared before magistrates at Littledean, charged with ill-treating and killing the bears and assaulting the Frenchmen. All but two were found guilty on one or more charges, with another convicted a week later. A total of £85 () was paid in fines. A
subscription was also launched which generously compensated the Frenchmen. The term "Who killed the bears?" existed for many years as an insult, directed particularly towards the people of Ruardean – despite the fact that all those convicted were from Cinderford. A fictional version of the incident was used by
Dennis Potter for his TV play
A Beast With Two Backs.
Rise and fall of industrialisation (1811–1891), steel industry pioneer Exploitation of the
Forest of Dean Coalfield developed rapidly in the early 19th century with increased demand from local ironworks, and when some of the earliest
tramroads in the UK were built here to transport coal to local ports the area was transformed by the growth of
mining and the production of iron and steel. In 1818–19
David Mushet built
Darkhill Ironworks, where he experimented with iron and steel making. In 1845, his youngest son,
Robert Forester Mushet, took over its management. He perfected the
Bessemer Process by solving the quality problems which beset the process. In a second key advance in metallurgy he invented
Mushet steel (R.M.S.) in 1868. It was the first true
tool steel It revolutionised the design of machine tools and the progress of industrial metalworking, and was the forerunner of
High speed steel. The remains of Darkhill are preserved as an Industrial Archaeological Site of International Importance and are open to the public. The Park Gutter pit was renamed Princess Royal after
Princess Victoria in 1842. The Princess Royal Colliery Company was founded in 1891 to work Park Gutter and Flour Mill Pits. It reached peak production in the 1930s, employing 1300 men. The pits closed in 1962. Cinderford was laid out as a planned town in the mid-19th century, but the characteristic form of settlement remained the sprawling hamlets of haphazardly placed cottages. Characteristics shared with other British coalfields, such as a devotion to sport, the central role of miners' clubs, and the formation of
brass bands, created a distinct community identity. There are still small private mines in operation, worked by
freeminers and
Hopewell Colliery is open to the public. With the decline of the mines, the area has undergone a period of significant change, ameliorated to some extent by a shift to
high technology, with companies establishing themselves in the area, attracted by
grants and a willing workforce.
Visitor destination Many mines have now been reclaimed by the forest and the area is characterised by picturesque scenery punctuated by remnants of the industrial age and small towns. There remains a number of industrial areas but the focus has been to capitalise on the scenery and to create jobs from tourist attractions and the leisure sector. Significant numbers of residents work outside the area,
commuting to
Gloucester,
Cheltenham,
Bristol,
Newport and
Cardiff. ==Natural history==