A Barbarous & Ungovernable People

A Short History Of The Miners Of The Kingswood Forest
Steve Mills

"A barbarous and ungovernable people" is a bit of a strong condemnation of a
community. Especially considering that at the time the community in question was
situated on the outskirts of a vibrant city in Britain, with arguably the second
largest population and economy outside of London.

The people of Kingswood Forest supplied the south west of England, and the industries of Bristol with coal.

It was situated on the Bath and London road. It is fair to say that without the
Kingswood Forest coal, Bristol would not be the city it is today, but the relation-
ship between the two communities were strained to say the least. There was a great
deal of misunderstanding and mistrust, and this blew up from time
to time in full scale conflagration…

Published by Bristol Radical History Group