Key Dates in Forest History

577 AD - The Battle of Dyrham

It was in the year 577 that the invading English (i.e. the Anglo-Saxons – EH) drove a wedge between the Welsh of Wales and those of Cornwall and the South West, when they defeated the British chiefs of Gloucestershire and pressed on to the Bristol Channel at the Battle of Dyrham. From that date the whole of the county east of Severn was settled by a Saxon tribe called the Hwicci. The Dean, however, was not affected and remained Welsh and must be included in the story of the Celtic kingdoms for another couple of centuries.

The above text is from Forest Story by R.J. Mansfield (publisher: the author 1964)

Key words: Anglo-Saxons, Battle of Dyrham, Bristol Channel, British chiefs of Gloucestershire, Celtic kingdoms, Cornwall, Dean Dyrham, English, Hwicci, Saxon, Severn, South West, Wales, Welsh

760 AD - The Dean becomes English

Time passed, with the Forest as the Eastern border of Christian Wales, a bulwark against the power of Penda, the pagan king of Mercia, whose boundaries included the rest of what is now Gloucestershire. Mercia itself was converted and a Bishop of the Hwicci was placed at Worcester, while a Bishop of the Magasetae ruled from Hereford, but the Dean was still a Celtic country. And so it remained until the mighty Offa became ruler, when in about 760 he made a determined drive westwards, and, at least in the southern part of the border, extended his limits from the Severn to the Wye and thus the Dean became English.

The above text is from Forest Story by R.J. Mansfield (publisher: the author 1964)

Key words: Celtic, Christian, English, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Hereford, Hwicci, Magasetae, Mercia, Offa, Penda, Severn, Wales, Worcester, Wye

780 - 796 Offa's Dyke

Offa was born in 750 and reigned over Mercia between 757 and 796. Between 780 and 796 he built the dyke that bears his name. Offa’s Dyke follows the Welsh / English border and stretches from Wrexham to the Wye valley. Offa’s reason for building the dyke is not documented.

Offa’s Dyke may be be seen at several locations between Lydbrook and Symonds Yat.

Key words: Lydbrook, Mercia, Offa, Offa’s Dyke, Symonds Yat, Wrexham, Wye

1066-1086

1067
By 1067 William the Conqueror had given the Forest of Dean to William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford (Salter)

1071
Death of William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford (Salter)

1075
Rebellion of Roger de Breteuil, son of William Fitz Osbern, Earl of Hereford. (Salter)
Forest of Dean became a Crown possession under the Royal Bailiff. (Salter)

1080
Dean Hall is one of the oldest houses west of the River Severn; there is ample evidence of Roman occupation there, and its name is derived from the Dene family, who were Lords of Dene from 1080 until 1319 (who?).

1080

c. 1080 Naming of the Norman Forest of Dene

Dene (Denu, Anglo-Saxon valley) was the name given to the land unit of Magna Dene (Mitcheldean), Parva Dene (Littledean), and Abenhall held under Edward the Confessor by three thegns. After the conquest of 1066, the Conqueror made the woodlands part of his forest; and, as they had been guarded by the tenants of Dene (and continued to be so by their successors) the name Forest of Dene soon arrived and was first recorded c. 1080 and certainly by 1086. In addition, the Normans built a castle in the southern part (Parva Dene, Littledean) of Dene which came to be known as the ‘Castle of Dene’.

The above text is from Between Severn (Sæfern) and Wye (Wæge) in the Year 1000 by Cyril Hart (publisher: Sutton Publishing, 2000)

Key words: Abenhall, Anglo-Saxon, Castle of Dene, Conqueror, Dene, Denu, Edward the Confessor, Forest of Dene, Littledean, Magna Dene, Mitcheldean, Normans, Parva Dene, thegn, William the Conqeror

1086

1086

Domesday Book