Edward Hunt's Forest of Dean Miscellany

Boy’s Grave

The legend has it that a gypsy boy, camping nearby, went to the spring to drink and fell on his his knife, killing himself. He is said to be buried by an old oak that has long since disappeared. The oak may have marked the boundary of one of the areas, once called bailiwicks, of the Forest.

A more likely explanation of the name is that it comes from the Norman French 'Bois Greve' meaning a sloping wood.

This text was written by B. V. Cave of the Wilderness Wildlife Centre Mitcheldean and M.J. Dunn, Forest Warden, for the Forestry Commission 'Boy's Grave and Forest Trail'. © 1974

Edward Hunt's Forest of Dean Miscellany

Fact, Fiction and Fantasy

Boy’s Grave

The legend has it that a gypsy boy, camping nearby, went to the spring to drink and fell on his his knife, killing himself. He is said to be buried by an old oak that has long since disappeared. The oak may have marked the boundary of one of the areas, once called bailiwicks, of the Forest.