Travelling around the Forest, you may see famous names of the Forest, pictured on various houses, including Dennis Potter, JK Rawlins, Sarah Siddons, Winifred Foley, and the industrial Mushet brothers. But there are some less famous people who have left a mark, however obscure, on the Forest and its history, and should perhaps be celebrated.

There was a Celtic hermit, Sigesmund, who may have given his name to Symonds Yat.

Another Celtic hermit, Brioc, of Saxon times, is an unknown figure who may have given his name to St Briavels. St Briavels Castle is a repository of names and people that lived around the area in the distant past. There is a sad anonymous prisoner in the castle whose heartbreaking message was inscribed on a cell wall “For I have been here a great space; And I am weary of the place.”. Another prisoner, apparently sadly stitched up and again sadly anonymous, has scratched on the wall in his cell his curse on his accuser: “Robin Belcher. The Day will come that thou shalt answer for it for thou hast sworn against me″. There are no further references to Robin Belcher that have been discovered, so it is not known if Robin Belcher ever came to answer for any outrageous libel. I suspect not. The fearsome oubliette room, which is still a feature of the Castle, is a deep and dark room beneath a trap door, where prisoners were thrown into and ‘forgotten’ about.

Around the 12th Century, when St Briavels Castle was constructed, there was a dynasty of Earls of Hereford, including Miles and Walter of Gloucester, who seemed to rule the area as their personal fiefdom, and they dominated the area, free from any interference from King John.

More recently, there are some less obscure personalities with deep or even superficial affinities to the Forest who may inspire some future external house portraits.

How about John Wyntour, of Wintours Leap, pictured in mid-air on his horse? Or Jimmy Young, singer and broadcaster, with a microphone? Or Mortimer Wheeler, of Lydney archaeological surveys, with a spade? There could be Charles Dilke, with a stethoscope, or Wayne Barnes with a whistle. Or an Earl of Hereford, on horseback. Sigesmund could be displayed at the top of Symonds Yat. And that notorious perjurer Robin Belcher could be pictured with a finger pointing (at an innocent man), with the innocent man carving his bitter complaint on his castle cell wall.