FOREST OF DEAN. 263 



and villages, to the extent of 1,000 or even 2,000 

 acres, sufficient to meet all the necessities of the district 

 for increased accommodation of the population, for 

 residences, gardens, and allotments. I also pointed 

 out that there could be no reason why a different policy 

 should be pursued in respect of the two Forests ; that 

 both of them in their present condition were valuable 

 legacies to the nation ; that, if reduced into absolute 

 ownership of the Crown, they could not be recovered ; 

 while, so long as they were subject to Commoners' rights, 

 they could from time to time be adapted to any 

 necessary want, such as that now existing in the Forest 

 of Dean for sites for miners' houses and for allotments, 

 without depriving them of their value for public- 

 enjoyment and recreation. 



The effect of this correspondence was that the 

 Government announced that they did not intend to 

 proceed further with their measure for inclosing the 

 Forest ; and that they were advised by their Law Officers 

 that they had, under an existing Act, power to sell 

 limited parts of the waste, from time to time, for 

 the necessities of the population. It resulted, therefore, 

 that practically the same policy was laid down with 

 respect both to the New Forest and the Forest of Dean. 

 They are both to be preserved henceforth in the interest 

 of the public and of the commoners, while the Crown 

 is secured in its long established right of making large 

 but temporary inclosures for the planting and growth 

 of timber. 



