Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the west of Cinderford. It is positioned on a hillside with views west towards the hills of South Wales. Little bit now remains of the town's commercial history, but once it was a centre for iron ore smelting furnaces, forges and also coal mines. The Norman castle, currently little more than a pile, regulated the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches as well as the Wye Valley. The village has been, in times past, an important centre of iron and coal mining, though little proof continues to be of this element of the town's background. The major historic site of the village is Ruardyn Castle, close to the parish church. In the past the village was spelt as Ruardyn as well as belonged to Herefordshire. Nowadays the village exists inside Gloucestershire as well as becomes part of the Forest of Dean district. Like much of the surrounding area, Ruardean has actually historically been reasonably inadequate; the 1831 demographics documents 127 households, with half the populace employed in farming and also 160 individuals on inadequate alleviation.