rt, was one of Philip Earl of Pembroke to
be Constable of the Castle of St. Briavel's and Warden of the Forest,
under a grant from the King, and, as such, Chief Judge of the Mine Law
Court.

In A.D. 1637 a grant was made to Edward Terringham of "all the mines of
coal and quarries of grindstone within the Forest of Dean, and in all
places within the limits and perambulations thereof, as well those within
his Majesty's demesne lands, and the waste and soil there, as also all
such as lay within the lands of any of his Majesty's subjects within the
perambulation of the said Forest, to his Majesty reserved, or lawfully
belonging, to hold for thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of 30
pounds."

The next year (1638) is marked by the first effort which the Crown seems
to have made to renew the crops of timber in the Forest, rendered
necessary by the report that, on surveying it, a supply of no more than
105,557 trees, containing 61,928 tons of timber, and 153,209 cords of
wood, of which only 14,350 loads were fit for shipbuilding, was found, as
"the trees were generally decayed, and passed their full groath."
Accordingly, under the direction of Sir Baynham Throckmorton, 16,000 or
17,000 acres were ordered to be taken in, "leaving fit and convenient
highways in and through the same." After sundry meetings, the commoners
consented thereunto, few or none objecting, in consideration of 4000
acres set apart for their use on the different sides of the Forest, as
follows:--On the side next Lydney and Awre, 550 acres; towards Ruerdean
and Lydbrook, 350 acres; near to St. Briavel's, 500 acres; towards Little
Dean, Flaxley, Abenhall, and Mitcheldean, and the Lea, 876 acres; in
Abbot's Wood, 76 acres; on the side nearest to Newland and the villages
of Breme, Clearwell, and Coleford, 900 acres; towards Newland, 174 acres;
next to Bicknor, 350 acres; and towards Rodley and Northwood, 100 acres.
The Lea Bailey, containing the best timber, was not included, but left
open. The proportion observed in the size of these common lands is
probably indicative of the way in which the population surrounding the
Forest was distributed. Traces of the bounds of some of these allotments
may yet be made out, by the remains of the ditches and banks with which
they were fenced.

Such a scheme, if judiciously carried out, would have done much to secure
the object in view, only it was connected unhappily with the entire sale
made under the date of 20th Fe