FOREST OF DEAN. 247 
seriously to injure the Commoners’ best pastures. In 
the meantime the Forest is more and more appreciated 
and frequented by the public, and there cannot be a 
doubt that any attempt to interfere with its general 
aspect, or to curtail the public enjoyment of it, will 
meet with the same fate as the scheme for a rifle range. 
THE FOREST OF DEAN. 
The Forest of Dean, of about 19,000 acres in extent, 
is another of the few remaining Royal Forests, which 
have come under the consideration of Parliament in 
recent years, and where the policy of maintenance 
has prevailed over that of inclosure. 
This Forest hes in the Hundred of St. Briavel, 
between the estuary of the Severn, and the river Wye, 
about twelve miles from Gloucester. Its condition as 
regards the Crown, the Commoners, and the public, is 
very similar to that of the New Forest. The Crown is 
the owner of the soil and of all the timber growing 
upon it. It has also large powers of temporarily 
inclosing parts of the Forest for encouragement of 
the planting and growth of timber. Subject to such 
powers, the Commoners, who are the owners and occu- 
piers of land in the Hundred, extending over many 
parishes beyond the Forest, have the right of turning 
out their cattle to graze in it, and their pigs to feed on 
the acorns. Of the Forest, about 4,000 acres consist of 
heath and open land; the residue is planted with oak 
trees of ages, varying up to ninety years, of which a 
