Ruardean
Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the west of Cinderford. It is located on a hill with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little currently remains of the village's industrial background, but once it was a centre for iron ore smelting furnaces, builds and also coal mines. The Norman castle, currently little more than a pile, regulated the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches and also the Wye Valley. The town has been, in times past, an essential centre of iron and also coal mining, though little proof stays of this aspect of the village's background. The major historical landmark of the village is Ruardyn Castle, close to the parish church. In the past the village was led to as Ruardyn and also was part of Herefordshire. Nowadays the village lies inside Gloucestershire and also is part of the Forest of Dean district. Like much of the bordering location, Ruardean has actually traditionally been reasonably inadequate; the 1831 census records 127 families, with half the population used in farming and 160 individuals on bad relief.
