Winter sun shafting through trees in the Royal Forest of Dean Gloucestershire UK
Nestling between the Wye Valley, the Vale of Leadon and the Severn Vale, the Royal Forest of Dean is one of England’s few remaining ancient forests, covering 27,000 acres of woodland. Designated as a National Forest Park in 1938, this ’Queen of Forests’ boasts a spectacular range of natural beauty combined with an aura of magic and mystery that has been the inspiration for many great artists and writers including Dennis Potter, JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling. The Royal Forest of Dean, once called ‘The Queen of the Forests All’, is one of the most fascinating regions of Britain. Its relative isolation created by the valleys of two great tidal rivers, the Severn and the Wye, together with its hilly terrain have helped preserve a pattern of land use, culture and heritage unlike anywhere else in the country. It is one of the few remaining Royal Forests in England. The Saxons were the first people to realise its potential for hunting. Thereafter it became the hunting reserve of Kings for many hundreds of years to follow. Many of the Dean’s ancient rights and privileges come from its unique heritage as a Royal Hunting Forest. The Norman kings loved to hunt deer and wild boar and they introduced Forest Law and officials called Verderers who were charged with looking after the animals and the woods they lived in.
Size: 3427px × 5120px
Location: Forest of Dean Gloucestershire UK
Photo credit: © Richard Wayman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: art, beauty, change, climate, dean, england, english, environment, forest, global, haunted, landscape, light, mystery, nature, sunlight, sustainable, tourism, travel, tree, warming, wood, woodland
