This may seam a silly question to those living in the Dean area , but , is the forest of dean esp pillowell , in England or Wales ? If it is in England , as this always been the case , or was it once part of Wales ? confused .com !!!!sid

Hi Sid

We are in England, but not too far from the Welsh border
Rosemarie

If you are tracing your family it is worth looking under both England and Wales as many could, as in my family, have connections across the border with Monmouthshire.

You will find that years ago if, for example, you got married at Lydney it was indexed under Chepstow as the registration district, and similarly Coleford under Monmouth. Chepstow and Monmouth are both nowadays in Gwent, a county of Wales. This could make people think the Forest was once in Wales, but I don't think Wales ever crossed the Wye in these parts. My grandparents were married at Lydney in 1913, but the index said Chepstow.