Mailscot Lodge, Hillersland (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Monday, August 27, 2012, 01:21 (4473 days ago) @ jevans

Hi,
That's a beautiful old family photo, what a lovely heirloom to have as an added delight to having Crown Foresters in the family, wow !
Yes Mailscot Lodge was socalled as it's in Mailscot Woods which are immediately adjacent to the raised hamlet of Hillersland. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandGloucestershireWy...

There would only have been one Lodge built within any one Forest area, or "ride", to house that area's official Crown Keeper. So yes I think you're correct in believing them to be one & the same building, unless perhaps there was another Lodge in the area before the Mailscot as photographed was built, which seems unlikely, I'm afraid I don't know that. However only one Lodge would have been in use at any one time.
The ever-reliable British History website describes this woodland in great detail with many references to Mailscot, they were managed for charcoal etc since the 1600s if not earlier. A small part of this text states

"Hillersland Farm, within English Bicknor, was built in the 17th century. To the south-east at Blackthorns Farm, which belonged to the Wyrall family in 1608 and became part of the Eastbach estate in 1735, a bungalow was built southwest of the farmhouse in the later 20th century. Within Mailscot cabiners resident in 1628 were expelled. A woodman's lodge was built northwest of Hillersland before 1748."

From: 'English Bicknor', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 101-117.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23254&strquery=mailscot lodge

Apologies if you already know it's location, if you do hopefully others will be interested. Do you know if the Lodge has changed much externally wrt the photo, I hope not too much ?.
[I must admit I was a tad disappointed the last time I was in the area, walking down to the Biblins; the old suspension bridge has also changed, for the better my wife thinks....it doesn't have the distinct wornout "sag" anymore, or the "scary" seethro wire floor - such a shame I thought but the kids still enjoyed noisily racing across it, but it didnt appear to want to swing like we made it years ago !].

On the Old Maps website Mailscot Lodge is clearly marked on all this site's maps for the area, from the earliest c1891 to the latest c1990.
To find it on the Old Maps site search, enter the Hillersland postcode "GL16 7NY". The maps will show the Lodge within the woods just to the west of Rock Inn and Hillersland Farm, both of these are on the B4322 road which skirts the woods as it runs north to the Yat Rock. The woods go right down to the Wye.
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

Or even easier, use the Rock Inn website's location map and select the "sat" photo setting, zoom in and the Lodge is in it's woodland clearing just west of the Inn.
http://www.stayattherock.com/#/map/4544256999