Joint research at St Briavel's Castle

St Briavel’s was an important royal castle on the frontier with Wales and the administrative and judicial centre of the Forest of Dean. Constructed in the early 12th century, it was the residence of the warden of the Forest of Dean which was a royal hunting ground, where the game was protected and only the king alone was allowed to hunt.

It has been a prison and in recent times a youth hostel run by the Youth Hostels Association. Today it is an impressive location boasting many period features and is managed by the YHA and English Heritage. A complete history of St Briavel’s can be found here.

In February of this year, we partnered with a group of other like minded teams and investigators to participate in 2 days and 2 nights of focused study at the castle, where we were also accommodated.

Although our combined research didn’t yield many results, it was an honour to call the village of St Brievel’s home for a few days, where our research was warmly welcomed by the locals.  

We hope to return to St Briavel's Castle again at the nearest opportunity.