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Bream Village
Bream is reputed to be the largest village in Gloucestershire, some say the largest in the country. Bream is situated midway between Lydney and Coleford on the B4231.  From the village there views over the forest of dean, and in the distance can be seen the hills of the Cotswolds.

The actual age of the village is not known as there may have been a settlement here before the Romans came to this country.  Iron ore was being mined here before they came, and as the miners would most likely to have lived near their work it is possible that they built shelters to live in. 

     In the village church of  St. James are tombstones dated in the 1600's. The oldest part of the present village is in the area where the high street meets the Lydney to Coleford road, as some of the houses have a date in the 1600's on them. The New Inn near this road junction which is no longer an Inn, but a private house, has an inscription on one of the fire places that is also on one of the tomb stones in the church, and dates back to the 1600's.

Today the population of the village is approx. 3000. There is very little employment now in the actual village, although there are three garages,  several shops where you can buy any thing from furniture to groceries and papers. I think 'Fridays' fish and chip shop in the village is one of the best in the area,  also we have a Chinese takeaway. In the village we have a few light industries, as the majority of the working force commutes to the larger towns outside the forest. Places like Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Newport are all less than an hours drive. 
In the village there are two Pubs where one can have a meal and a pint, two sport clubs again you can have a pint either to celebrate victory or drown ones sorrows.

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