Ruardean
Ruardean is a town in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the west of Cinderford. It is located on a hill with views west in the direction of the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the town's industrial background, once it was a centre for iron ore smelting furnaces, forges and also coal mines. The Norman castle, currently little more than a mound, regulated the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches as well as the Wye Valley. The town has been, in times past, an important centre of iron and coal mining, however little proof continues to be of this aspect of the town's history. The primary historic site of the village is Ruardyn Castle, close to the parish church. In the past the village was meant as Ruardyn and also belonged to Herefordshire. Nowadays the village exists inside Gloucestershire as well as becomes part of the Forest of Dean area. Like much of the bordering area, Ruardean has traditionally been relatively bad; the 1831 census records 127 families, with half the population employed in agriculture and also 160 individuals on inadequate alleviation.
