260 FOREST OF DEAN. 
caused by this great increase of mines, has long ago 
necessitated the appropriation of parts of the Forest 
for their accommodation. Of the 24,000 acres, of which 
the Forest consisted in the time of Charles II., only 
18,500 acres are now forest or waste, 700 acres belong 
to the Crown, and 4,800 acres are the property of private 
individuals, as a result of encroachments from time 
to time on the waste, eventually recognised by the 
Crown. On this private land has grown up the town 
of Cinderford, and several other villages, in a very 
irregular manner, often without adequate drainage. 
In 1874, in consequence of complaints of the want 
of sufficient accommodation for the population, and of 
the sanitary defects of the district, a select Committee 
was appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into 
the condition of the Forest. The inquiry escaped the 
notice of those interested in Commons, and the Com- 
mittee, then appointed, contained no member who 
represented the views of the Commons Society. 
The Committee reported that the rights of Free 
Miners tended to obstruct the advantageous develop- 
ment of the Forest mineral field, and were detrimental 
to the interests of the Crown, and of the public; that 
the rights were almost valueless to those not already 
holding gales; that the general feeling in the neigh- 
bourhood was in favour of the commutation of the legal 
rights of the Commoners ; and that the convenience of 
the mining population, and of the mining works, 
required that the Crown should have power to sell 
portions of the Forest free from Common rights. They 
