Freeminer

A Freeminer is the ancient title given to a coal miner in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK who has earned the right to mine personal plots known as "gales" within the royal forest.

Eligibility

In order to earn this right, an individual must be male, born within the ancient administrative district known as the "Hundred of St Briavels", (now generally considered to be contiguous with the Forest of Dean (district)), and have worked down a mine for a year-and-a-day. The officer in charge of regulating the freemines and freeminers, including allocating the gales, is known as the Gaveller, a historical post which still exists today.

The rights of the Freeminers are very ancient, and were confirmed by Edward II of England, who in doing so, claimed that the rights of the Freeminers had existed "tyme out of mynde". A plaque bearing the engraved coat of arms of the Freeminers hangs in Newland church, and another in the church of St. Michael in Abenhall.

Present day

Freeminers still operate today, though on a much reduced basis, due to several factors including the closure of mainstream commercial pits in the Forest of Dean, the low price of and demand for coal, the relatively high costs of small-scale extraction, the closure of maternity hospital facilities - such that it will be impossible to be born within the "Hundred of St Briavels" - and attempts by the UK government to exact commercial operating licence charges out of these small-scale producers. However, despite the modest level of activity, Freemining tradition remains an important part of local identity, and some Freemines operate successfully, especially through diversification into non-traditional areas, such as tourism and ochre mining at Clearwell Caves.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/