The issues in money to the Crown, from the mining and making of iron in the Forest, were stated by James Treysil, Custos of the Castle and Manor
of St. Briavels, to have amounted to the following sums for the year commencing 13 Jan., 39 Hen. III. (1255), and ending 16 Nov., 40 Hen. III. (1256):—
| £ | s. | d. | |
| 22 | 10 | 0 | from the king’s great forge, placed out at farm for the time aforesaid. |
| 8 | 4 | 6 | from foreign forges (forinsecariis, i.e., beyond the limits of the Forest, for the same period). |
| 4 | 9 | 3 | from forges within the Forest. |
| 23 | 1 | 4 | from the great and little mines. |
| 58 | 5 | 1 |
The king’s “great forge,” mentioned above, yielded, in after years, £26 19s. 3d. to the Custos, but was ere long suppressed, as detrimental to the Forest woods. Its being named here suggests a solution of the term “levantis,” or small, generally given to the other forges of the district. They were urged, probably, with such bellows as may be seen carved on an ancient tombstone in Newland Churchyard.
In the year 1841, when that part of the old road leading up to the Hawthorns from Hownal was altered, near the brook, below Rudge Farm, the hearths of five small forges, cut out of the sandstone rock, and curiously pitched round the bottom with small pebbles, were laid open. An iron tube, seven or eight inches long, and one inch and a half bore, apparently the nozzle of a pair of bellows, was also found; as well as scores of old tobacco-pipes, as they seemed, bits of iron, much rusted, and broken
earthenware, besides a piece of silver coin. Unfortunately, none of these articles were preserved, or they might have thrown some light on the subject.
The Fabric Rolls of Westminster Abbey, under date 37 Hen. III. (1253), contain the ensuing items:—
| s. | d. | |
| To Henry de Pont, for iron bolts | 14 | 0 |
| To Richard de Celir, for four hundred iron clamps from Gloucester (4 lbs.) | 21 | 0 |
| For carriage of the same iron | 3 | 4 |
| Also— | ||
| To Richard de Celir, for rods of iron from Gloucester (10 lbs.) | 16 | 0 |
| For carriage of the same | 6 | 8 |
Thus widely spread was the good fame of the Forest metal.
By an Inquisition of the 52 Hen. III. (1268), to ascertain what privileges the abbot and convent of Tynterne were accustomed to have in the Forest, the jurors returned that—“the said abbot and convent, by charters of the King’s predecessors, are accustomed to have mines in the Forest for their own forge freely, and have never given anything for the said mines.” [19]