Forest of Dean

From Royal Hunting Ground to ironworks, furnaces, coal mines and redundant tramroads - to some of the most tranquil and beautiful woodlands in Britain.

The Forest of Dean takes its name from ‘dene’, an ancient word meaning series of wooded valleys in which swine are fed. The former is most apt for this beautiful landscape offering views across the Severn to the east and Wye Valley to the west.

Covering over 200 square miles, the Forest of Dean is one of the largest areas of mixed woodlands in the UK with broadleaves and conifers of several species, flora and fauna, streams and ponds all masquerading the industrial remains of the Forest’s heavy industrial past - redundant iron mines, scowles, furnaces and disused mines.

Today, in the 21st century, industrial coal and iron-mining has ceased, there are just a few stone quarries and, with these few exceptions, there is now no heavy industry within the forest, although the free-miners continue to work on a very small scale and sheep badgers graze their sheep freely in the woodlands.

The Forestry Commission has now created series of waymarked paths, bridlepaths, cycleways throughout the forest and former millponds or ponds supplying former forges and blast furnaces are now tranquil, scenic areas surrounded by paths, reed beds and seating for visitors to relax, enjoy and soak up the atmosphere heady with the clean, fresh scent of pine.

The Royal Forest of Dean