ng, and altering the existing roads, and making new ones through
the Forest to places adjoining, in the parishes of Newland, Lydney, and
Awre. Mr. John Fordyce, now the Surveyor-General, alluding to the
subject in his Report, dated 1797, says, that an arrangement had been
made with the principal inhabitants in the neighbourhood, whereby the
cost of keeping up the roads was to be met by means of turnpikes, the
Crown constructing them in the first instance.

The year 1795 is associated with the disturbances commonly called, even
now, for they are not forgotten, "the Bread Riots." They arose from the
circumstance of the foresters being mainly dependent upon the adjacent
farms for their corn, but which was now, owing to war, largely bought up
by the Government, mostly at Gloucester and Bristol, for the supply of
the army and navy. Hence the inhabitants of the Forest district were
left destitute of those supplies which the miners and colliers of the
Forest considered they were entitled to, in return for the fuel which
they furnished to the farmers.

The following extracts from the contemporary numbers of 'The Gloucester
Journal' minutely relate the acts of violence which ensued:--

"On Saturday morning, 30th October, 1795, as Mr. King's waggon, of
Bollitree, was bringing a load of barley to the Gloucester Market, it
was beset by a number of colliers from the Forest of Dean near the
Lea Line, who inquired what the bags contained, and when told that it
was barley, they cut the bags to examine; whilst this was passing, a
waggon, loaded with wheat, came up the hill belonging to Mr. Dobson,
of Harthill, in the parish of Weston, which was taken to in the same
manner, and both waggons with the grain were taken off to a place in
the Forest of Dean, called Drybrook, where the people divided the
corn, and sent back the waggons and horses to the owners." The next
Saturday "a party of foresters, chiefly from the neighbourhood of
Lidbrook, stopped a waggon belonging to Mr. Prince, of Longhope,
loaded with ninety-two bushels of wheat, and lodged it in Ross
Market-house, professedly with the intention of selling it out on
Monday morning at eight shillings per bushel. A magistrate, however,
reached Ross early on Monday, and, accompanied by ten of the Essex
Light Dragoons, saw the grain reloaded into Mr. Prince's waggon, and
sent it off under their escort. In abou