Milkwall is a village in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the n ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. It lies between the village of Sling to the south, and the town of Coleford to the north. Milkwall, strictly speaking, lies South of Station Rd in the parish of West Dean, whereas Tufthorn is North of Station Rd in the parish of Coleford. Near Milkwall is Perrygrove Railway – a private heritage railway, and

Puzzlewood Puzzlewood () is an ancient woodland site and tourist attraction, near Coleford, Gloucestershire, Coleford in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. The site, covering , shows evidence of Open-pit mining, open-cast iron mine, iron ore ...

– an ancient woodland site.

History

There was at least one dwelling at Milkwall, situated on the Forest boundary in 1628.Coleford
Victoria County History The earliest houses at Milkwall were within the parish of Coleford with just a few houses on the extraparochial

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

.Forest of Dean: Settlement
Victoria County History There was some mining in the 17th century when a

drift mine Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...

was being worked at Milkwall. Mining for

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

was taking place in the 1820s when Edward Protheroe opened up ore mines near Milkwall. In the mid-1860s, Easter, a deep mine at Milkwall, employed around 50 men and boys.Forest of Dean: Industry
Victoria County History An early tramroad to serve the mines, was built by the Severn & Wye tramroad company to connect to their junction at

Parkend Parkend is a village, located at the foot of the Cannop Valley, in the Royal Forest of Dean, West Gloucestershire, England, and has a history dating back to the early 17th century. During the 19th century it was a busy industrial village with se ...

. In 1875, the Severn & Wye constructed a railway to Coleford. It left the main line at Parkend and in places shadowed the Milkwall branch tramroad. A station was provided at Milkwall for this branch line. The production of

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

, which during the 19th century was used as

flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...

in local ironworks as well as for farming and building, also took place in Milkwall. There were engineering works at Milkwall belonging in 1889 to Tom Morgan which continued casting metals after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A colour (

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

) factory was started at Milkwall in 1926 – it employed 7 people in 1965, when in addition to processing oxides mined elsewhere it ground coal for use in the paper and fibreboard industries and in drills. A

beerhouse A beerhouse was a type of public house created in the United Kingdom by the 1830 Beerhouse Act, legally defined as a place "where beer is sold to be consumed ''on'' the premises". They were also known as 'small' or 'Tom and Jerry' shops Existing pu ...

(later to become the Tufthorn inn) opened at Milkwall by the late-1870s.Forest of Dean: Social life
Victoria County History A wooden village hall was built after World War I and a recreation ground was laid out in the mid-1930s. An

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club had its own ground by the later 1950s. A social club built at Milkwall by 1959 was later enlarged.

References

External links

photos of Milkwall and surrounding area on geograph

No 75

No 74

No 73

No 72
Modern boundary stones, placed by a departing householder in 2010-2016 * {{authority control Forest of Dean Villages in Gloucestershire