Alexander de Byknore; Henry de Chaworth had fifty-nine mines, and some forges; the timber wood of Kilcote was held by Bogo de Knoville; William Bliss held 180 acres of assart, and seventeen acres of meadow land; certain miners, named William de Abbensale, Walter and Elys Page, had been found digging mine at Ardlonde belonging to the Abbot of Flaxley, who at once removed them, and filled up the place.  The question was now also raised as to the Crown possessing the right of conferring the tithes of the “assarted” (rooted up) Forest lands, not being within the bounds of any of the adjacent churches; when it was decided in the affirmative, the King exercising the claim in favour of the church of Newland, in consideration, probably, of the lordship of the manor being held by him, and the whole being formerly comprised in the Forest.  A considerable proportion of such of the existing encroachments as are reputed the oldest pay tithes to Newland, a circumstance confirmatory of their alleged antiquity. [16]

The records we possess of the ensuing reign of Edward II. afford the interesting intelligence that on various public occasions the military services of the Foresters were required, and even at places as distant as Berwick-upon-Tweed, which, owing to its position as a border town, and the contests then waging between the English and Scotch, was repeatedly lost and won by both sides.  From the year 1174 to 1482 it changed owners upwards of sixteen times.  The sieges to which our choice Foresters were summoned appear to have been those of 1310, 1311, 1315, 1317, 1319, and 1355.  On the first occasion the Constable of St. Briavel’s, and Keeper of the Forest of Dean, was commanded to select one hundred archers and twelve miners.  In the following year writs were addressed to the Sheriff of Gloucester, directing that, out of fifty men to be chosen from the county, the larger number should be from the Forest of Dean, and urging expedition in sending them.  The next writ, issued four years afterwards, was sent to the Sheriff of Herefordshire, and is entitled “Concerning the Choice of Soldiers in the Forest of Dean,” and orders ninety-six men of those parts to be provided.  Two years later the Keeper of St. Briavel’s is directed to bring two hundred men to Northallerton; and again, two years afterwards, he is to take twenty of the strongest miners in his bailiwick to Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and a writ was addressed to all mayors, sheriffs, bailiffs, &c., reciting the aforesaid instructions, and commanding that assistance should be rendered them whenever it was needed during their journey.  In connexion with these incidents, it is stated by Guthrie, the historian, that Sir Edward Manny bringing engineers out of the Forest of Dean, and Edward III. investing the place with a prodigious army, the Scots capitulated.  They were also ordered by the same King to join his forces at Portsmouth in 1346 and 1359.

From these facts we are justified in concluding that the population then inhabiting the Forest were regarded as a brave and skilful race, not merely in their own

quarter of the kingdom, but also in the camp of its Kings.  They were skilful with the bow from following the chase on the King’s behalf, and were of course able sappers and miners from the nature of their everyday occupations.  Indeed, the tradition now in vogue amongst the Foresters, is, that their ancestors were made free miners in return for the aforesaid services; but it has been shown that the franchises of the mine date from an earlier period. [18]

The researches of the Rev. T. D. Fosbroke, as printed in his History of the county, supply most of the following additional particulars of this reign.  The Bishop of Llandaff, who already claimed the moiety of a fishery at Bigswear on the Wye, to which the parish of Newland extends, received a grant of the newly cleared Forest lands for founding a chantry at the latter place.  Tithes to the amount of ten pounds from the iron-mines in the Forest were given to that dignitary, but the Dean of Hereford and the Canons, with the Rectors of St. Briavel’s and Lydney, aided by their servants and others, violently carried them away, the see of Hereford then comprising all these parts.  The vineyard of Norton, together with certain wastes, were let to John de Witham and his heir for 50s. 6d. per annum, provided two hundred acres of the adjoining soil were brought into cultivation and enclosed at a certain rent, by which all injury to the Crown would be avoided, Norton not being a vineyard, but a “lacius” worth sixpence per annum.  So also William Jote might hold one hundred acres, twenty lying in Michelerleye, and eighty in Brakenford, and also the Prior of Lanthony two hundred and seventy acres, upon paying twopence per annum.  The Abbot of Gloucester had leave to cut wood in Birdewoode and Hope Mayloysell, without demand or view of the Forester.  The men of Rodley Mead Forest were allowed to have firewood and mast for their swine.  John de Abbenhall held a certain bailiwick of the King by the service of guarding it with bows and arrows.  Robert de Barrington held forty

acres of waste near Malescoyte-wood.  Ralph Hatheway was seized of forty acres in Holstone.  Bogo de Knoville was seized of Kilcot-wood, and Henry de Chaworth had a forge in the Forest.

By the sixth year of Edward III. (a.d. 1333) the dispute between the Dean and Chapter of Hereford and the Bishop of Llandaff, relative to the tithes of the iron-mines in the parish of Newland, was settled in the Bishop’s favour, who also obtained the great tithes and the presentation to the living, all of which still continue attached to that see, and in connexion with which it may be observed, that by far the larger part of the fabric of the church at Newland exhibits the style of architecture which prevailed at that period.  It is a large building, and the tower is particularly fine.

Parliament now confirmed the perambulations made in 26th and 28th Edward I., which reduced the bounds of the Forest to the limits which, with some slight exceptions, remained in force till within the last twenty-five years.  The ensuing items of information, taken from Mr. Fosbroke’s valuable work on the county, apply to this period.  Guy de Brien, to whom the Forest was farmed, obtained wages from the Crown for the payment of four foresters, who were allowed the privilege of cutting all underwood within the same from seven years to seven years.  J. Flory held the bailiwick of the Lee, and John Preston that of Blakeney.  Robert Sappy, warden of the Forest, petitioned Parliament for some allowance to be made him, as, owing to the late alienations of Crown property in favour of the monks of Tintern and the Bishop of Llandaff, he no longer received the usual pay of one hundred shillings per annum.  The Abbey of Gloucester had twigs granted to it for the annual repairs of the weirs at Minsterworth and Durry; a similar privilege was enjoyed by the lords of the manor of Rodley, provided the twigs were fetched once a day with two horses, between the 14th of September and the 3rd of May; heavy timber was also allowed for the same purpose.  John Juge succeeded to the bailiwick of the Lee, but was unlawfully deprived

of it by John Talbot, who held the castle on Penyard as well as