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COMPACT
DISC
Roll of
Honour
Mining & Quarry Fatalities in the Forest of
Dean
- with index of Freeminers
The project arose as the
result of many years of research by one of our members into fatal accidents in
Forest of Dean coalmines and quarries. The Society felt that there should be
some form of memorial to the victims, in much the same way that those who fell
in wars are remembered.
Dave Tuffley carried out the original research
over a period of ten years, using local newspapers, coroner's records and
cemetery records. As a result he recorded the details of hundreds of accidents.
Further help was given by Ian Winstanley of Wigan. The CD was compiled and
edited by Ron Beard.
We now have over 600 records of fatal accidents
from 1797 to the present day. This CD contains details of all the fatalities
that we have recorded, including information relating to the accidents, mines
and mine owners.
Also included are historical and modern photographs of
the mines or their sites, which will provide a valuable heritage record as many
of the sites are disappearing under the forest canopy.
A unique feature
of the Forest of Dean is the 'Freeminer' system, which dates from the Middle
Ages. The Crown owned the Forest and as a reward for their assistance in
undermining the walls of Berwick Castle the miners were given special
privileges. Miners who were born in the Hundred of St Briavels, and worked for
a year and a day in a Forest mine could apply for the right to work a 'gale' of
coal or iron A gale being an area of a coal seam or iron ore vein. From the
middle of the nineteenth century official records have been kept of the names
of all Freeminers which are also recorded on the CD.
Click here
to buy a copy of the CD..........
Some sample images from the CD are shown
opposite.
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