A NEW verderer for the Forest of Dean will be chosen at a special court which will be convened at Gloucester Cathedral next month.

The successful candidate will replace Ray Wright, who owned Clearwell Caves and was renowned for his knowledge of the Forest, who died in August last year.

A notice calling for candidates to become the fourth verderer has been published by Countess Bathurst, the High Sheriff of Gloucester, on the order of Her Majesty the Queen.

The new verderer will be chosen at a court which will sit at Gloucester Cathedral at 11am on February 15.

Anyone who wants to be considered as a candidate should contact the sheriff’s office at Lancaster House, Thomas Street, Cirencester GL7 2AX by noon on Wednesday, February 1.

The role of verderer dates back 800 years and involves overseeing the protection of the Forest, the timber and its animals.

There are no official conditions or regulations to be a verderer and there is no salary.

They meet four times a year in the Verderers’ Court at the Speech House near Coleford when they consider maters relating to the woodlands and open lands – the vert – and the deer – venison – in the Statutory Forest.

They also advise the Forestry Commission and make representations to other bodies.

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest which established the verderers in the Royal forests and established rights and protections for ordinary people.

It was given the seal of the young Henry III under his regent William Marshall of Chepstow Castle.