Bream Community Library

Local History Section
You can view and download the full catalogue for our Local History section (in Excel xlsx format). If you are a member of Gloucestershire Libraries, you can reserve the books online for collection at Bream Library or your local Gloucestershire Library.

Family History Research

Did you know that you can access subscription sites such as "Ancestry" and "FindMyPast" for FREE on the computers at your local library?

If you are interested in trying this, ask the library staff. We also have a volunteer with many years of experience in Family Tree Research who will be happy to provide any additional help you may need.

Forest of Dean Local History Society

Welcome to the website of the Forest of Dean Local History Society , the oldest in Gloucestershire.

Bream Heritage Walk

The Bream Heritage Walk highlights some of the “Hidden Heritage” of the area.

The Sungreen Website

A collection of old photographs, ephemera and memories of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.

FoD Family History Trust

Forest of Dean Family History Trust (FoDFHT) is dedicated to providing web based resources for family history researchers whose ancestors and families lived in the Forest of Dean and its borders.

Building Preservation Trust

Forest of Dean Building Preservation Trust was formed to conserve any part of the land and buildings in and around the Forest of Dean of particular beauty or architectural interest.

Forester's Forest Projects

The Foresters' Forest projects explore the Forest of Dean's past, and rediscovers its history and heritage.

Dean Heritage Centre

The Dean Heritage Centre protects and preserves the unique history and heritage of the beautiful Forest of Dean.

Industrial Heritage

Industrial Heritage Find out about the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean

Castles & Monuments

Find out about the castles, abbeys and other significant monuments in the Forest of Dean Area & surrounds from the Historic England website.

Bream Local History Folder 1

in a folder held in the Local History Section of Bream Community Library

This is a miscellaneous collection od documents that includes:

Typed histories of Bream (inc. Church)
19th Century Directory entries
Newspapers clippings of people and events in Bream from 1944 – mid 1980s
Census for Bream of 1881
Maps of Bream and area from late 19th Century to early 20th Century

The History of Bream : PDFs

A downloadable pdf of material in the folder 'History of Bream' in the Local History Section of Bream Community Library. It was compiled by Bream Librarians in 1996 and contains:

Trade directories for Bream 1856 - 1935
Census returns 1841 and 1891
Mining
Shops
Inns
Old photos of Bream
Research article on Pastors Hill by Ruth Hirst

Forest of Dean : H. Nicholls 1858

Published in 1858 by John Murray

You can view the book in our Local Collection or download a transcript from the external site The Gutenburg Project

There's also scan of original editions online at Google Books and in a free Kindle edition at Amazon

Other Forest of Dean Local History Books

The Personalities of the Forest of Dean by H.G.Nicholls

being a relation of the successive official, gentry and commonalty.
Drawn from numerous sources, but chiefly from unpublished data and information 1863
Original copy held at Bream Community Library, free pdf available from Google Books.

Iron Making in Olden Times by H.G.Nicholls : A free Project Gutenburg eBook, as instanced in the Ancient Mines, Forges and Furnaces of the Forest of Dean, 1866.

Murray's Handbook of Gloucestershire (1905)

A Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire (Fourth Edition)
Original copy held at Bream Community Library, free pdf download

62 Years of the Life of a Forest of Dean Collier (1887) - Anon : free pdf download, original copy held at Bream Community Library

The Forest of Dean by A.O.Cooke (1913) : free pdf download, original copy held at Bream Community Library (scanned by Cornell University Library).

West Dean Service Men from World War 1

These records were researched by the late Phil Morton for the Family History Society. The records contain information about the men who served and died in World War 1.

Click the links below to see the files individually, or follow this link to view all the documents.

Forest of Dean History , War Records & Academic