History

The Speech House Hotel in the Royal Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire was built in 1676 as a hunting lodge for Charles II (his arms can still be seen in the stonework above the exit door to the Verderers Court). It was soon recognised as the administrative centre of the Forest of Dean, and the largest room became the Verderers' Court. It became the place one went to talk or to make a Speech - hence the name "Speech House".

The office of the Verderer was instituted by King Canute in the early 11th century. There were four to each Royal Forest and their chief duty was the guarding of the 'vert' and the 'venison' (trees and deer) on behalf of the King.

The Verderer's Court of Attachment is still held every 40 days at The Speech House. If there is no business to be dealt with the court is formally adjourned for another 40 days. In fact the court now sits on an average of four times a year when matters concerning the Forest of Dean are discussed.

The Verderer's are still appointed by the crown and are paid a doe and a buck a year (although none of the present Verderers have claimed their " salary" since taking office).

Few deer are now in the main area of the forest, so offences concerning venison are rare, and since 1924 such offences have been dealt with by the local magistrates court.

The Court Room is on the ground floor of the hotel, still with much of its original decoration. Three massive beams support the entire length of the ceiling. The death penalty can still be imposed for making off with the Forest's royal deer, but there's a condition to its imposition: the sentence must be carried out on the gibbet outside the hotel. The gibbet, however, has been mislaid. Therefore no gibbet…no hanging, enabling peace and quiet to be maintained.

The Verderer's also have retained administration functions and continue to act as intermediaries between the local public and the Forest Enterprise, and they manifest a great concern regarding beauty and amenities of the Forest of Dean.

The earliest allusion to the office of Verderer in the Forest of Dean was in 1216. From that year practically unbroken records have been maintained. The present Senior Verderer is Dr. C. Hart.

The Speech House Hotel is now a lovely 37 bedroom hotel, which boasts two of the finest 7ft by 7ft gigantic four poster beds. Many of the bedrooms are named after trees, and mostly overlook into the wilderness of the surrounding forest.

There are plenty of free range sheep wandering through the villages, looked after by shepherds known as 'Sheep Badgers' who ensure that their charges graze only the road verges and do not abuse their rights by entering the forest.

The Forest justifiably wears the title the Queen of all Forests, and boasts 20 million trees, which inside hide hundreds of species of flora and fauna, including many rare birds, wild boar and even the occasional polecat. In the month of May it is carpeted with an abundance of bluebells which contrasts to the spectacular autumn colours which are constantly changing throughout September, October and November.

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Weddings at The Speech House. The Speech House is the perfect location to arrange your special occasion.
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