r. Wilcox, the Surveyor-General,
represented to Lord Godolphin that the inhabitants of the neighbourhood
had been stripping some of the trees of their bark, whereupon those
trees, with any others not likely to be of any use to the navy, were
ordered to be cut down and used for gates, stiles, and fences, or sold
for the benefit of the Crown. Three years later a similar charge was
preferred against certain colliers for cutting trees and wood, but we do
not find that it came to anything.

Sir Robert Atkyns, to whom this Forest was well known, describes its
condition at this time, as "containing only six houses, which are the
lodges for so many keepers. There had been many cottages erected, but
they had been lately pulled down;" not that there were literally no other
dwellings in it, for the ancient "assarted" lands were probably so
occupied, but the mining population lived for the most part in the
surrounding villages. Speaking of the different Forest courts, he
says--"the Swainmote Court is to preserve the vert and venison, and is
kept at the Speech-house, which is a large strong house, newly built in
the middle of the Forest for that purpose. There is another court called
the Miners' Court, which is directed by a steward appointed by the
constable of the Forest, and by juries of miners, returned to judge
between miner and miner, who have their particular laws and customs, to
prevent their encroaching upon one another, and to encourage them to go
on quietly in their labour in digging after coals and iron-ore, with
which this Forest doth abound." The room in which most of these courts
were held retains its original character, only it has been floored with
wood, and is no longer divided by rails into compartments for the jury
and the accused. Stains of human blood once marked the ceiling over the
north-east corner of the apartment, said to have dropped down from the
room above, where an unfortunate poacher, who had been much injured by a
gun, was confined. It is asserted that for many years no water could
remove nor whitewash hide the unsightly marks.

[Picture: Court Room in "the Speech House."]

In the Commissioners' Report of 1788 it is said that about this time
(1712) the Forest was probably in its best state, although its courts had
not been so regularly held since the Revolution as before, yet that the
greatest attention had been given to it by the different authorities
under the Crown. And as