Forest of Dean (UK Parliament constituency) war, the election never took place; Notes References Forest of Dean (UK Parliament constituency) Forest of Dean is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Mark Harper, a Conservative. 1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Coleford, Lydney, Newent, and Newnham. 1918-1950: The Urban Districts of Awre, Coleford, Newnham, and Westbury-on-Severn, the Rural Districts of East Dean and United Parishes, Lydney, Newent, and West Dean, and part of the Rural District of Gloucester. 1997-2010: The District of Forest of Dean, and the Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Haw Bridge and Highnam. 2010-present: The
Forest of Dean Coalfield form of ownership and history, allowing freemining privileges to continue intact. Some large colliery gales were subsequently compulsorily purchased by the National Coal Board (NCB), but remained under the freemining system and a royalty was paid to the freeminers by the NCB as a share of the minerals extracted. In 1945 half the male population of the Forest were employed in coal mining. The last of the NCB gales closed in 1965, but freemining continues to be an important aspect of Forest of Dean culture and there are probably still around 150 freeminers, although only a handful of collieries are