fall of a stone on his head from the highest tower.” It should be observed, however, that, according to Sir R. C. Hoare, Camden is mistaken in placing the scene of Mahel’s catastrophe in the Forest of Dean; Brendlais, or Bynllys, as mentioned by Giraldus, being a small village on the road between Hereford and Hay, where a stately tower marks the site of the ancient castle of the Cliffords, in which most likely this tyrant lost his life.
In this year also, a.d. 1140, the Abbey of Flaxley was founded by Roger, the Earl of Hereford’s eldest son, by whom it was partially endowed, and who named it “the Abbey of St. Mary de Dene,” the site being formerly included in the precincts of the Forest. The institution of the Abbey was confirmed by Henry II., who further enriched it by granting permission to the monks to feed their cattle, hogs, &c., in the Forest, repair their buildings with its timber, and have an iron-forge there. In course of years the Fitz-Herbert interest in the Forest and Castle of St. Briavel’s, passing through the families of Henry de Bohun and Bernard de Newmarch, was released by the former to King John, who granted them at the close of his reign to John de Monmouth. The ‘Itinerary’ of this monarch shows that he often visited the neighbourhood, no doubt for the diversions of the chase, viz.:—
| a.d. 1207, | at Gloucester | Nov. 14, Wednesday. |
| St. Briavel’s | „ 15, Thursday. | |
| „“ | „ 16, Friday morning. | |
| Flaxley | „ „ „ evening. | |
| St. Briavel’s | „ 17, Saturday. | |
| Hereford | „ 18, Sunday. | |
| 1212, | at Flaxley | „ 8, Thursday. |
| „ | „ 9, Friday. | |
| St. Briavel’s | „ 10, Saturday. | |
| „ | „ 11, Sunday. | |
| „ | „ 12, Monday. | |
| Flaxley | „ „ Monday evening. | |
| 1213, | at St. Briavel’s | „ 28, Thursday. |
| „ | „ 29, Friday. | |
| Monmouth | „ „ Friday evening. | |
| „ | „ 30, Saturday. | |
| St. Briavel’s | „ „ „ | |
| Flaxley | „ „ „ | |
| Gloucester | „ 30, Saturday. | |
| 1214, | at Braden’s Coke | Dec. 11, Thursday. |
| Ashton | „ „ „ | |
| Flaxley | „ „ „ |
From this date Bigland, in his ‘County History,’ arranges nearly an unbroken succession of the constables of St. Briavel’s Castle, and wardens of the Forest of Dean, viz.:—
| a.d. 1215 | 17 King John | John de Monmouth. |
| 1260 | 44 Henry III. | Robert Waleran. |
| 1263 | 47 „ | John Giffard (Baron). |
| „ | „ | Thomas de Clace. |
| 1282 | 12 Edward I. | William de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick. |
| 1289 | 19 „ | John de Bottourt (deprived). |
| 1291 | 21 „ | Thomas de Everty. |
| 1298 | 27 „ | John de Handeloe. |
| 1300 | 29 „ | Ralph de Abbenhalle. |
| 1307 | 1 Edward II. | John de Bottourt (restored). |
| 1308 | 2 „ | William de Stanre. |
| 1322 | 15 „ | Hugh Le Despenser (senior). |
| 1327 | 18 „ | John de Nyvers. |
| „ | 20 „ | John de Hardeshull. |
| 1341 | 14 Edward III. | Roger Clifford (Baron). |
| 1391 | 14 Richard II. | Thomas de Woodstock Duke of Gloucester. |
| 1436 | 14 Henry VI. | John Duke of Bedford. |
| 1459 | 38 „ | John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester. |
| 1466 | 6 Edward IV. | Richard Neville Earl of Warwick &c. |
| 1612 | 9 James I. | Henry Earl of Pembroke. |
| 1632 | 10 Charles I. | Philip „ |
| 1660 | 1 Charles II. | Henry Lord Herbert of Raglan Duke of Beaufort. |
| 1706 | 5 Queen Anne | Charles Earl of Berkeley. |
| 1700 | 9 „ | James „ |
| 1736 | 8 George II. | Augustus „ |
| 1755 | 27 „ | Norborne Berkeley Esq. Lord Bottetourt. |
| 1760 | 1 George III. | Frederic Augustus Earl of Berkeley. |
| 1814 | 54 „ | Henry Somerset Duke of Beaufort. |
| 1838 | Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests. |
Judging from the architectural character of the remains of St. Briavel’s Castle, the whole of which seem to belong to the middle of the thirteenth century, and closely to resemble in several features the neighbouring castles of Chepstow and Goodrich, viz. in their entrances, angular-headed arches, and three-cornered
buttresses, the present building was probably erected by John de Monmouth, at the cost of the Crown, paid out of the increasing receipts which now accrued to it from the charges levied upon the iron mines and forges at work in the district. The latter, being itinerant forges, were ordered to cease until the King, Henry III., should command otherwise, which appears to have led to the Chief Justice in Eyre directing that none should have an iron-forge in the Forest without a special licence from the Sovereign.
By royal permission the Abbot of Flaxley possessed both an itinerant and a stationary forge; one of the former kind also belonged to the men of Cantelupe. Henry Earl of Warwick had likewise forges in his woods at Lydney, as well as others in the Forest, and
these formed no doubt but a small part of the whole number. The dimensions of these forges may be judged of by the two at Flaxley consuming more than two oaks weekly, to the destruction of much timber, in lieu of which the King gave the Abbey 872 acres of woodland, which still forms part of the property at the present day, under the name of “the Abbot’s Woods.”