Rock Cottage Joyford & "Worcester Walk" (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Tuesday, November 06, 2012, 03:02 (4396 days ago) @ nigeldownunder

Hi Nigel,
Apologies if I tell you what you may already know, but .....
First, while searching this website for a formal definition of Worcester Walk the first hit was this, ie "YOUR" aforementioned document. Did you know it was in the site's Documents files ?, or how it got there ? (I don't).
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/downloads/Miscellaneous/VAUGHAN_Charlotte_Mortgage_Papers...

I'm thinking perhaps you don't understand what "Worcester Walk" means in the old Forest of Dean sense ?. It doesn't refer to a house address such as a road or street, as it may perhaps sound nowadays (altho' I guess there may be one in Broadwell judging from your post?). It refers to a large area of the western Forest, if you like it's one of the first local government Districts, long before the Census' and "Newland" or "West Dean" etc.

In this site is an early reference book to the Forest which is recommended reading, accessed from the Home Page under "e-books".
"The Forest of Dean, An Historical and Descriptive Account" by Nicholls, H. G. (Henry George), 1825-1867.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/ebooks/gutenberg/24505/24505-h.htm
This text can be searched and one of the hits for Worcester Walk is below, which hopefully explains itself.
(or if you prefer to see images of the old book itself, complete with illustrations, this version is also completely searchable, see
http://www.archive.org/stream/forestdeananhis00nichgoog#page/n9/mode/1up

From this book, I think the name was also related to one of the early Constables of St. Briavel’s Castle, so Wardens of the Forest of Dean "was John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, from 1459 to 1466 under reign of King Henry VI." St Braivels is at the southwestern side of the Forest between ancient Newland(hence Joyford, Christchurch,Broadwell etc) and important Chepstow Castle on the Severn/Wye.

"On the 28th of September, 1675, at the recommendation of Sir Charles Harbord, to whom the plan was probably suggested by the precedent of the ten bailiwicks into which the district had been anciently divided, the Forest was formed into six “walks,” or districts, a keeper being appointed to each. Six lodges were built for their use in convenient situations, with 30 acres of land attached, “for the better encouragement and enabling of the said keepers to attend and watch over the said enclosures within their several walks, and to preserve the same, and the young springs of wood and trees thereon growing, and to grow from time to time, from spoil and harm.” The names given to each of the six divisions were derived from some of the most eminent living characters of that day. Thus, the Speech House, or King’s Walk, was so called after Charles II.; York Walk and Lodge after the Duke of York; Danby Walk and Lodge after the Earl of Danby, prime Minister at the time; Worcester Walk and Lodge after Henry Marquis of Worcester, the then constable of the Castle of St. Briavel’s, and warden of the Forest; Latimer Walk and Lodge after Viscount Latimer; and Herbert Walk and Lodge after Lord Herbert; in the two last instances, out of compliment to the Worcester family apparently. The Speech House was so called from its being intended for the use of the ancient Court of “the Speech,” as mentioned in the Laws and Franchises of the Mine."

Another piece of recommended if not essential reading is "The Forest of Dean" by Arthur O.Cooke, pub 1913.
http://archive.org/stream/cu31924028028920#page/n7/mode/2up

All of these books have been reprinted and are still available to buy.

I would love to be able to post a map showing the area's of the various Walks, but sadly cannot find one (perhaps Slowhands etc could help, please ?).
However I do know from my old Ordnance Survey Map that Joyford (altho' not nowadays within the wooded part of the Forest as such) is near to and was considered part of the Worcester Walk area, as is all of that Hillersland area towards Symonds Yat.

Another ever-reliable source is the British History site, if you search the text for "Rock" you'll find it mentions
"Early settlement on the hillside at Joyford, north-east of Berry Hill, included by 1758 several cottages on Crown land overlooking buildings belonging to English Bicknor and a detached part of Newland. In 1782 there were 40 cottages within the Forest at Joyford, including 12 up the hill in the area known in 1804 as the Lonk. On the lower part of the hill a beerhouse, later called the Dog and Muffler, opened before 1838. In 1851 there were eight houses to the east in Ninewells bottom, then known as the Mire.
North of Berry Hill, cottages had appeared within the Forest at Short Standing, near a farmstead belonging to English Bicknor, by 1758 and there were 12 there in 1782. Northwest of Short Standing at Hillersland, on the road from Coleford to Goodrich (Herefs.), several cottages were recorded from 1565 on a green, where an inn or beerhouse called the Cock in 1748 was renamed the Rock in the mid 19th century. There were a few cottages strung out along the road in 1787 and their number had increased to 17 by 1834. Further north at Redinhorne, near Symonds Yat rock, there was a cottage on the road in 1608. Three cottages were recorded there in 1792 and the few houses there in 1992 included a wooden bungalow used as the Symonds Yat post office.

From: 'Forest of Dean: Settlement', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 300-325.
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23266
Date accessed: 06 November 2012.

I assume the name Rock was chosen in the mid 1800s to reflect the then-growing popularity of Symonds Yat Rock as "the" local beauty spot and magnet to the newly invented Victorian "Tourists" enjoying the Wye Tour ?
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/gallery/symonds_yat/

According to tinternet Rock Cottage is at:
JOYFORD HILL,
COLEFORD,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
GL16 7AR.

I am unable to find any online photos of it (altho searching this postcode on Google Streetmap will probably help !!), so I cannot say for certain whether the current "Rock Cottage" is indeed the same property the mortgage documents refer to, although it seems plausible. Perhaps searching the people named on the Mortgage Document within the 1901 Census will help build a mental picture or even map ?

I hope this has helped you, if only a little !
Jeff.