INDUSTRIES 



Bicknor, the warden of Staunton in that baili- 

 wick, Walter de Astune in Blakeney, Nicholas 

 de Lea in Lea, and the earl of Warwick in 

 Lydney, but the regarders ' nesciunt quo war- 

 ranto.' What was taken, as will be seen hereafter 

 in the account of the free miners, was sometimes 

 not so much the actual coal raised as certain dues 

 levied thereon, and this is also borne out by the 

 earlier ' Verdict.' 



The account of the iron-mines given in the 

 earlier finding is unfortunately mutilated, and as 

 the facts stated do not seem to differ in essentials 

 from those recorded by the regarders in 1282 it 

 may be advisable to confine our attention to the 

 later document. According to this, Ralf de 

 Abbenhale had a mine in his bailiwick from 

 which the king took nothing except six loads of 

 ore (minerie) a week and paid therefor to the 

 miners 6d. In Bicknor Cecily de Michegros 

 and in Blakeney Walter de Astune claimed any 

 mine (mintriam) if it were found. The king 

 held the mine in the bailiwick of Great Dean 

 and received from each workman raising three 

 loads of ore (minee) per week one penny for that 

 week. And when ore (minea) was first found 

 the king must have one man working with the 

 other miners in the mine (mineria), ' et conducet 

 ilium pro duobus denariis per diem et habebit 

 partem lucri quantum eveniat uni operatori,' and 

 just as in Abinghall the Crown claimed six loads of 

 ore, ' que vocantur law-ore,' per week, for which 

 6d. was paid to the miner. In the bailiwick of 

 Bearse there were more mines than in Dean, but 

 under the same regulations, and the king received 

 twenty-four loads per week as law-ore, for which 

 he gave the miners 2s. In Staunton, again, the king 

 had the mine, and the regulations were as in Dean 

 except that he only took one halfpenny per week 

 from each man who raised three loads. Again, 

 if the king had an itinerant (errantem) forge the 

 miners were bound to supply him with ore at a 

 penny a load. He also had a right to a halfpenny 

 on every load taken outside the forest, and the 

 whole of these dues from the miners the king 

 placed out at farm for j.6. 1 Further, Sir Richard 

 Talebot held the mine in Lea by unknown right, 

 but the king had nothing from it. And again 

 from the ore raised in the earl of Warwick's 

 wood at Lydney the king took nothing except 



' This is confirmed by the account rendered for Dean 

 by Ralf de Sandwich [Mins. Accts. bdle. 850, No. 19, 

 8-9 Edw. I (P.R.O.)] There the ' Issues of the 

 Water of Severn (i.e. not of the weirs, which were in- 

 cluded in the Rents of Assize, but the \d. a load cus- 

 toms duty) are 23,' and the ' issues of the Great and 

 Small Mines of iron with coal 25 igi.' The rent 

 of the forges, which was not included, of course, in 

 the miners' payments, amounts to 12, which, as the 

 rent for the full year was 71. a forge, suggests that 

 many of the sixty or more then existing were working 

 short time. A comparison of the somewhat fragmen- 

 tary accounts available shows that the amount received 

 from the forges varied considerably at different periods. 



the customary due of a halfpenny a load on iron 

 carried out of the forest. 



The mediaeval mining in the Forest of Dean 

 was naturally of a somewhat primitive character, 

 open-cast workings being sufficient * in the case of 

 the shallower deposits of limonite along the out- 

 crop of the crystalline limestone known by the 

 local name of * crys ' or ' crease.' Instances of 

 old workings of this type are not uncommon in 

 the Forest as at Dean Pool on the western side 

 and elsewhere, and are often known by the local 

 name of ' scowles.' Coal was, no doubt, often 

 worked in the same way. The deeper deposits 

 in the ' crease ' are found in ' churns ' or chambers, 

 some quite small, others ranging to a capacity of 

 5 0,000 or 60,000 tons of ore. To reach these, 

 bell or beehive-pits were probably sunk, a small 

 pit being driven through the surface cover and 

 widened below. When as much ore had been 

 taken as could safely be removed, the working 

 was left and a fresh pit opened up beside it. 1 

 Few of these pits were large enough to require 

 the leaving of pillars or elaborate support. This 

 method of working was especially useful in 

 dealing with the irregular deposits of iron ore, 

 connected by ' strings ' or * leads ' which are 

 characteristic of the Forest of Dean formations. 



The equipment of a free miner is depicted in 

 the heraldic crest on a mutilated brass of the 

 fifteenth century within the Clearwell Chapel 

 of Newland Church. He wears a cap and 

 carries a candlestick between his teeth. In 

 his right hand is a small mattock, while a 

 mine-hod of wood hangs at his back from a 

 shoulder-strap fastened to his belt ; his leathern 

 breeches are tied with thongs below the 

 knee. An interesting series of smiths' and 

 miners' tools are also found represented on the 

 font of Abinghall Church and the western face 

 of its tower. Men of a sturdy race skilled in 

 their own craft, the miners of Dean were fre- 

 quently summoned to the Scottish wars 4 under 

 the Edwards, and their pre-eminent services at 

 the sieges of Berwick were traditionally associated 

 with the customary laws and privileges to which 

 we must next devote our attention. As, however, 

 will be seen presently these customary rights 

 dated from an earlier period, although it is not 

 impossible that the hall-mark of a royal con- 

 firmation may have followed faithful service at 

 the wars ; but of such confirmation no absolute 

 first-hand proof is at present known. 



1 Kendall, Iron Orel e/Gt. Brit., 364. 



1 Galloway, Annab of Coal Mining, i, 32. 



4 And also for service across the Channel. From 

 the Pipe R. 20 Edw. Ill, m. 8, we learn that Guy 

 Brian ' vallettus Regis ' had selected 60 miners in- 

 cluding six master-miners to be sent to Portsmouth. 

 For the five days' journey the master-miners were 

 paid 4</. a day each, and the rest jJ. a day, and 

 reasonable expenses were allowed for the six horses 

 which bore the 'instrumenta eorundcm mineratorum.' 

 The whole sum spent was 4 5*. 



2IQ 



