of the various abuses which the above extracts exhibit
constitutes the first fruit of the enactment of the 26th George III.
(1786) for appointing commissioners to inquire into the state of the
woods, forests, &c., of the Crown, and to report thereon, adding such
observations as should occur to them for their future management and
improvement.

Upwards of 2,000 pounds worth of timber out of the Forest was granted,
26th of April, 1786, towards building a gaol in Gloucester, as well as a
penitentiary house and houses of correction within the county, at a total
cost of 30,000 pounds, upon the plea that the old castle, on the site of
which the gaol was to be built, belonged to the King, and also that one
of the houses of correction was to be erected within the Forest, whereby
the rights of the Crown would be supported. The execution of this grant
required 1,690 trees.

The gentlemen appointed to act in the commission above named were, Sir
Charles Middleton, John Call, Esq., and Arthur Holdsworth, Esq., who
forthwith proceeded to collect information on the history and management
of the Forest of Dean, as well as the claims and usages of the mining
population. Their report, being the third of the series, was published
on the 3rd of June, 1788. Commencing with an introduction respecting the
Royal Forests generally, it proceeds to this Forest in particular, "as
being in proportion to its extent by far the most valuable and the most
proper for a nursery of naval timber," and refers first to the origin and
results of the important Act of the 20th Charles II.; then to the abuses
which have since crept in, with their disastrous effects; and, thirdly,
to the best way of settling the claims of commoners, and how to render
this Forest a very valuable nursery of timber for the royal navy.

All particulars bearing upon the two former heads have been as fully
stated in the preceding pages of this work as circumstances permitted:
under the last head, the suggestions of the commissioners amounted
briefly to this,--that, agreeably to the plan begun about the year 1638,
under the supervision of Sir Baynham Throckmorton, a commission should be
created to superintend the enclosing of about 18,000 acres. The most
wooded parts of the Forest were to be selected, and where the soil was
best fitted for the growth of timber, avoiding the coalworks, and leaving
out all necessary roads to be made and kept in repair by turnpikes,
unless required