with their metallic
products, that abound near them in the state of iron cinders. Thus it is
recorded by Mr. Wyrrall, in his MS. description of this subject, that--

"Coins, fibulae, and other things, known to be in use with the
Romans, have been frequently found in the beds of cinders at certain
places. This has occurred particularly at the village of Whitchurch,
between Ross and Monmouth, where large stacks of cinders have been
found, some of them eight or ten feet under the surface, and
demonstrating, without other proof, that they must have lain there
for a great number of ages. The writer had opportunities of seeing
many of these coins and fibulae, &c., which have been picked up by
the workmen in getting the cinders, in his time; but especially one
coin of Trajan, which he remembers was surprisingly perfect,
considering the length of time it must have been in the ground.
Another instance occurs to his recollection of a little image of
brass, about four inches long, which was then found in the cinders in
the same place, being a very elegant female figure in a dancing
attitude, and evidently antique by the drapery."

Numerous other Roman vestiges, on every side of the Forest, may be
adverted to. No great distance from Whitchurch, and immediately
adjoining this neighbourhood on the north, is the site of Ariconium,
marked by numerous traces of the hardware manufacture of that people.
Near Lydney and Tidenham, discoveries of Roman relics have been
extensively made. At Lydbrook, and on the Coppet Wood Hill, at Perry
Grove, and Crabtree Hill, all within or near the Forest--the last being
situated in the middle of it--many coins of Philip, Gallienus,
Victorinus, and of Claudius Gothicus, have been brought to light. We
possess indisputable testimony, from Mr. Lower's researches in the old
iron-making parts of Sussex, that the Romans there carried on
metallurgical operations at an early period, and we may claim a like
antiquity for our Dean Forest workings. An examination of the
cinder-heaps that still occur, especially in the precincts of the mines
already described, reveals, beyond doubt, the antecedents of the mineral
operations of the neighbourhood.

Considering the _extent_ of the excavations from whence these metallic
relics were procured, it is not surprising that these mounds of slag
continue to be constantly met with. Two hundred years ago, they w