diff --git a/util/src/journaldb/refcounteddb.rs b/util/src/journaldb/refcounteddb.rs
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/src/journaldb/refcounteddb.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,264 @@
+// Copyright 2015, 2016 Ethcore (UK) Ltd.
+// This file is part of Parity.
+
+// Parity is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+
+// Parity is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Parity.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+//! Disk-backed, ref-counted JournalDB implementation.
+
+use common::*;
+use rlp::*;
+use hashdb::*;
+use overlaydb::*;
+use super::traits::JournalDB;
+use kvdb::{Database, DBTransaction, DatabaseConfig};
+#[cfg(test)]
+use std::env;
+
+/// Implementation of the HashDB trait for a disk-backed database with a memory overlay
+/// and latent-removal semantics.
+///
+/// Like OverlayDB, there is a memory overlay; `commit()` must be called in order to 
+/// write operations out to disk. Unlike OverlayDB, `remove()` operations do not take effect
+/// immediately. Rather some age (based on a linear but arbitrary metric) must pass before
+/// the removals actually take effect.
+pub struct RefCountedDB {
+	forward: OverlayDB,
+	backing: Arc<Database>,
+	inserts: Vec<H256>,
+	removes: Vec<H256>,
+}
+
+const VERSION_KEY : [u8; 12] = [ b'j', b'v', b'e', b'r', 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ];
+const DB_VERSION : u32 = 512;
+
+impl RefCountedDB {
+	/// Create a new instance given a `backing` database.
+	pub fn new(path: &str) -> RefCountedDB {
+		let opts = DatabaseConfig {
+			prefix_size: Some(12) //use 12 bytes as prefix, this must match account_db prefix
+		};
+		let backing = Database::open(&opts, path).unwrap_or_else(|e| {
+			panic!("Error opening state db: {}", e);
+		});
+		if !backing.is_empty() {
+			match backing.get(&VERSION_KEY).map(|d| d.map(|v| decode::<u32>(&v))) {
+				Ok(Some(DB_VERSION)) => {},
+				v => panic!("Incompatible DB version, expected {}, got {:?}", DB_VERSION, v)
+			}
+		} else {
+			backing.put(&VERSION_KEY, &encode(&DB_VERSION)).expect("Error writing version to database");
+		}
+
+		let backing = Arc::new(backing);
+		RefCountedDB {
+			forward: OverlayDB::new_with_arc(backing.clone()),
+			backing: backing,
+			inserts: vec![],
+			removes: vec![],
+		}
+	}
+
+	/// Create a new instance with an anonymous temporary database.
+	#[cfg(test)]
+	fn new_temp() -> RefCountedDB {
+		let mut dir = env::temp_dir();
+		dir.push(H32::random().hex());
+		Self::new(dir.to_str().unwrap())
+	}
+}
+
+impl HashDB for RefCountedDB {
+	fn keys(&self) -> HashMap<H256, i32> { self.forward.keys() }
+	fn lookup(&self, key: &H256) -> Option<&[u8]> { self.forward.lookup(key) }
+	fn exists(&self, key: &H256) -> bool { self.forward.exists(key) }
+	fn insert(&mut self, value: &[u8]) -> H256 { let r = self.forward.insert(value); self.inserts.push(r.clone()); r }
+	fn emplace(&mut self, key: H256, value: Bytes) { self.inserts.push(key.clone()); self.forward.emplace(key, value); }
+	fn kill(&mut self, key: &H256) { self.removes.push(key.clone()); }
+}
+
+impl JournalDB for RefCountedDB {
+	fn spawn(&self) -> Box<JournalDB> {
+		Box::new(RefCountedDB {
+			forward: self.forward.clone(),
+			backing: self.backing.clone(),
+			inserts: self.inserts.clone(),
+			removes: self.removes.clone(),
+		})
+	}
+
+	fn mem_used(&self) -> usize {
+		self.inserts.heap_size_of_children() + self.removes.heap_size_of_children()
+ 	}
+
+	fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+		self.backing.get(&VERSION_KEY).expect("Low level database error").is_none()
+	}
+
+	fn commit(&mut self, now: u64, id: &H256, end: Option<(u64, H256)>) -> Result<u32, UtilError> {
+		// journal format: 
+		// [era, 0] => [ id, [insert_0, ...], [remove_0, ...] ]
+		// [era, 1] => [ id, [insert_0, ...], [remove_0, ...] ]
+		// [era, n] => [ ... ]
+
+		// TODO: store last_era, reclaim_period.
+
+		// when we make a new commit, we journal the inserts and removes.
+		// for each end_era that we journaled that we are no passing by, 
+		// we remove all of its removes assuming it is canonical and all
+		// of its inserts otherwise.
+
+		// record new commit's details.
+		let batch = DBTransaction::new();
+		{
+			let mut index = 0usize;
+			let mut last;
+
+			while try!(self.backing.get({
+				let mut r = RlpStream::new_list(2);
+				r.append(&now);
+				r.append(&index);
+				last = r.drain();
+				&last
+			})).is_some() {
+				index += 1;
+			}
+
+			let mut r = RlpStream::new_list(3);
+			r.append(id);
+			r.append(&self.inserts);
+			r.append(&self.removes);
+			try!(self.backing.put(&last, r.as_raw()));
+			self.inserts.clear();
+			self.removes.clear();
+		}
+
+		// apply old commits' details
+		if let Some((end_era, canon_id)) = end {
+			let mut index = 0usize;
+			let mut last;
+			while let Some(rlp_data) = try!(self.backing.get({
+				let mut r = RlpStream::new_list(2);
+				r.append(&end_era);
+				r.append(&index);
+				last = r.drain();
+				&last
+			})) {
+				let rlp = Rlp::new(&rlp_data);
+				let to_remove: Vec<H256> = rlp.val_at(if canon_id == rlp.val_at(0) {2} else {1});
+				for i in &to_remove {
+					self.forward.remove(i);
+				}
+				try!(self.backing.delete(&last));
+				trace!("RefCountedDB: delete journal for time #{}.{}, (canon was {}): {} entries", end_era, index, canon_id, to_remove.len());
+				index += 1;
+			}
+		}
+
+		let r = try!(self.forward.commit_to_batch(&batch));
+		try!(self.backing.write(batch));
+		Ok(r)
+	}
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+	use common::*;
+	use super::*;
+	use super::super::traits::JournalDB;
+	use hashdb::*;
+
+	#[test]
+	fn long_history() {
+		// history is 3
+		let mut jdb = RefCountedDB::new_temp();
+		let h = jdb.insert(b"foo");
+		jdb.commit(0, &b"0".sha3(), None).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&h));
+		jdb.remove(&h);
+		jdb.commit(1, &b"1".sha3(), None).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&h));
+		jdb.commit(2, &b"2".sha3(), None).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&h));
+		jdb.commit(3, &b"3".sha3(), Some((0, b"0".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&h));
+		jdb.commit(4, &b"4".sha3(), Some((1, b"1".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&h));
+	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn complex() {
+		// history is 1
+		let mut jdb = RefCountedDB::new_temp();
+
+		let foo = jdb.insert(b"foo");
+		let bar = jdb.insert(b"bar");
+		jdb.commit(0, &b"0".sha3(), None).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&bar));
+
+		jdb.remove(&foo);
+		jdb.remove(&bar);
+		let baz = jdb.insert(b"baz");
+		jdb.commit(1, &b"1".sha3(), Some((0, b"0".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&bar));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&baz));
+
+		let foo = jdb.insert(b"foo");
+		jdb.remove(&baz);
+		jdb.commit(2, &b"2".sha3(), Some((1, b"1".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&bar));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&baz));
+
+		jdb.remove(&foo);
+		jdb.commit(3, &b"3".sha3(), Some((2, b"2".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&bar));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&baz));
+
+		jdb.commit(4, &b"4".sha3(), Some((3, b"3".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&bar));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&baz));
+	}
+
+	#[test]
+	fn fork() {
+		// history is 1
+		let mut jdb = RefCountedDB::new_temp();
+
+		let foo = jdb.insert(b"foo");
+		let bar = jdb.insert(b"bar");
+		jdb.commit(0, &b"0".sha3(), None).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&bar));
+
+		jdb.remove(&foo);
+		let baz = jdb.insert(b"baz");
+		jdb.commit(1, &b"1a".sha3(), Some((0, b"0".sha3()))).unwrap();
+
+		jdb.remove(&bar);
+		jdb.commit(1, &b"1b".sha3(), Some((0, b"0".sha3()))).unwrap();
+
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&bar));
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&baz));
+
+		jdb.commit(2, &b"2b".sha3(), Some((1, b"1b".sha3()))).unwrap();
+		assert!(jdb.exists(&foo));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&baz));
+		assert!(!jdb.exists(&bar));
+	}
+}