FOREST OF DEAN. 255 



and be subjected to forestal law ; but that this 

 should not in future apply to the lands in private 

 ownership, not waste of the Forest ; that no more 

 than 800 deer should be maintained by the Crown ; 

 and that all grants of the waste lands should be re- 

 sumed and made void. 



These proposals were agreed to by the Committee 

 of the House of Commons, and were recommended to 

 the Government. A Bill was introduced to carry them 

 into effect, but Parliament was prorogued before it 

 became law, and it was not till 1668, that an Act 

 was passed substantially embodying these terms. 



In the meantime Sir John Winter, under the powers 

 of his lease, played havoc with the timber in the Forest. 

 The Committee, in 1663, had already reported to the 

 House " that Winter had 500 cutters of wood employed 

 on the Forest, and that all the timber would be 

 destroyed if care should not be speedily taken to 

 prevent it." In vain the House of Commons made 

 recommendations for the preservation of the timber. 

 Winter still kept on his cutting ; and in 1667, it was 

 reported to the Government that of 30,233 trees sold 

 to Winter, only about 200 remained standing, and that 

 from 7,000 to 8,000 loads of timber suitable for the 

 Navy were found wanting. 



The Act of 1668 embodied the proposals of the 

 people of the Forest, as approved by the Committee, 

 with little variation. It maintained all the rights of 

 miners of the district. Strangely enough, after all the 

 complaints of Winter's conduct, the Act saved his rights 



