THE heritage of the working-class Chartist struggle for voting rights, secret ballots and MPs wages is at risk of being eroded forever with the advent of thousands of homes.

Founded by the Chartists just over 20 miles west of Monmouth – site of the Newport Rising treason trial – the Lowbands site near Redmarley and the Snig’s End site near Corse were part of several settlements set up through the Chartist Co-operative Land Company in the 1840s.

The Forest of Dean District Council has nominated Snig’s End, which is in a conservation area, to be included in Historic England’s Heritage at risk register for 2025, saying it is under threat from development, alterations to the original Chartist cottages, and subdivision of the original plots.

But Redmarley villagers say “it’s completely ruined” already, while pleas to protect the Lowbands site have fallen on deaf ears, despite the threat of 3,000 new homes being built on the doorstep.

Chartism was a working-class 19th-century movement in Britain advocating for political reforms, primarily focused on extending the right to vote.

Famously, Monmouth Shire Hall played host to the treason trial of the leaders of the Chartist Newport Rising in 1839/40, with John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, although they were later reprieved and transported to Australia instead.

The settlements were created to help working-class people satisfy the landholding requirement to gain a vote in county seats across the country.

And with the threat of 3,000 new homes being built a stone’s throw from Lowbands, villagers say their heritage could be “completely ruined”.

A meeting organised by Redmarley Parish Council heard that while Snig’s End has some safeguards, attempts to give Lowbands conservation area status have fallen on deaf ears at the Forest Council.

“I came to a meeting back in 2022, when you had massive maps on the walls explaining the proposed development and protection for the Chartist area,” one resident said.

“We are now three years on. I haven’t seen any protection plan for the Chartist area. This is not a new idea.”

Another Lowbands resident said: “Lowbands is nationally recognised as a Chartist settlement.

“There are only five such settlements and this is the best one. The Forest of Dean has already let the fourth one, Snig’s End completely go to the wall – it’s completely ruined.

“They’ve only got one chance left to keep one Chartist settlement going. It’s by far the best of the five. They must have some responsibility to protect that area.

“The whole point is each building had two to three acres of land around it. If you allow what happened at Snig’s End it loses all sense of purpose.

“They should be reminded of that. There must be some responsibility for them to maintain Lowbands as it is.

“If you can stand outside a Chartist bungalow looking at 2,500 houses, that’s not protecting the conservation area.”

Leo Williams, parish clerk, told the meeting they had asked repeatedly for the area to be considered as a locally valued landscape.

“We’ve had one email and one phone call back and got absolutely nowhere,” he said.

“We can’t find any explanation why this is the case. There has been no shortage of knocking on the door and we’ve got nothing.”

Coun Josh Wheeler added: “We’ve literally been knocking at their door and they’ve been keeping it firmly shut.

“That’s what we find with the District Council a lot.”

The Forest Council has been approached for comment.