1.HERITAGE CONTEXT

“Heritage is a broad concept and includes the natural as well as the cultural environment. It encompasses landscapes, historic places, sites and built environments, as well as biodiversity, collections, past and continuing cultural practices, knowledge and living experiences.(Brooks, 2002)

The Forest of Dean has a rich cultural heritage and evidence of human occupation of the area goes back the before the last ice age ca. 70,000 BC in the upper palaeolithic period Flint tools were found at Woolaston, on the boundary of the first and second gravel terraces, close to the River Severn (James and Walters 1988, 39), an Upper Palaeolithic retouched blade from Morse Lane, Drybrook (Walters 1989, 9) In relation to the development of the new settlement it is the interplay between the landscape and human activity that is most relevant. The land of the Forest of Dean is a heritage landscape and much of what we see today is a consequence of human activity. From Offa’s Dyke to the Royal Core Forest, the field systems to the west and road infrastructures all are part of the heritage landscape The value placed on these heritage assets changes and local communities and societies hold particular assets dear, while others may be forgotten. Gloucestershire’s Historic Environment Records (HER) hold over 42,000 records and the forest of dean account for 21% of those records.

The forest has throughout history been associated with industry and this has left traces on the landscape and shaped the cultural identity of the forest. Minin g most notably has been an important part of the Forest of Dean economy mainly in the core forest area. The coal has also been a resource that attracted other industry such as smelting and forging as far back as the Bronze Age and significantly during the Iron Age and Roman periods. Timber too attracted industrial activity and settlement. Timber for shipbuilding particularly the oak forests and timber used for the production of charcoal This industrial activity has then brought infrastructure which too has left its mark on the landscape Roman roads have been found at Blackpool near the bridge, another ran from Gloucester to Monmouth, the second from Gloucester to Caerleon, the third known locally as ‘the Dean Road’, ran from Lydney to Ariconium(Bury Hill, near Ross on Wye), and the fourth from Newnham to Monmouth Canals were also built to allow ships to load between tides and transport coal and iron from Lydney out into the Severn. The Lydney canal connected to the Pidcock’s canal which was in turn linked to tramway and railway that brought coal minerals, including lime, and timber from the forest.(Currie, 1996)

The core forest area of the study area is not considered for development in this study neither is the area of the Wye gorge AONB, but both areas are rich in industrial heritage assets. The lower lying areas along the Severn from Blaisdon Flaxley, Weston on Severn and out to the Awre Peninsular have rich agricultural history and evidence of iron awe quarrying from Scowles, open cast quarry features. They range in size and shape and may well have begun their lives as exposed mineral features which were then exploited further The most notable are puzzle wood near Coleford and Dwarfs Hill near Lydney but many examples exist throughout the study area The study area has 92 scheduled ancient monuments within it 47 of those are associated with Offa’s Dyke There are 1460 listed buildings within the study area, 26 are Grade 1 listed, these include, Severn Bridge, Chepstow Bridge, St .Briavels Castle, Flaxley Abbey and 22 churches There are also 26 Conservation areas Conservation Areas(CAs) are places of special architectural or historic interest, which have a particular character or appearance worthy of preservation or enhancement. Groups of buildings, walls, trees and hedges, open spaces, views and the historic settlement patterns all combine to create an individual sense of place. It is this character, rather than individual buildings, that CA status seeks to protect.(Participation, 1990)

There are many local history societies and heritage groups and this reflects a sense of history and place that is strong in the forest of Dean. There has been a recent resurgence of pride in local artists poets and musicians. In the eighteenth-century Wordsworth wrote about Symonds Yat its beauty and Catherine Drew a contemporary of his too wrote of the beauty of the landscape of the forest The Dymock poets too celebrated the area and other writers, including Dennis Potter add to a rich literary history (LDA,2002)

Forest of Dean poets . Leonard Clark, Winifred Foley and Harry Beddington, celebrated in a mural in Cinderford. Harry Beddington was a satirist and humourist and brought the people of the forest to life in his work. He lived in Cinderford and wrote of the view out towards Wales from the top of Belle Vue Road.

" If thouse look due West thou const [can] zee a whole range o’ the Welsh Mountains stretched bevore tha’ and, if thouse turn around and look due East, thee costn’” (Beddington, H. 1977)

Miners brass (Newland 15th century) It is symbolic of the freeminers independence over the crown. It is still the symbol of the freeminers society and evocative of the Forest of Dean’s independent spirit. All male persons born or hereafter to be born and abiding within the said Hundred of St Briavels, of the age of twenty one years and upwards, who shall have worked a year and a day in a coal or iron mine within the said Hundred of St Briavels, shall be deemed and taken to be Free Miners." The Dean Forest (Mines) Act 1838.

(courtesy of www. forestfreeminers.org)