Puzzlewood () is an

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

site and tourist attraction, near Coleford 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The site, covering , shows evidence of

open-cast Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

iron ore mining dating from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

period, and possibly earlier. Over a mile of pathways were laid down in the early 19th century to provide access to the woods, and provide

picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

walks. The area contains strange rock formations, secret caves and ancient trees, with a confusing maze of paths. The site is listed as a regionally important geological site in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review'.

Geology

The geological features on show at Puzzlewood are known as

scowles Scowles are landscape features that range from amorphous shallow pits to irregular labyrinthine hollows up to several metres deep and are possibly unique to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. They have traditionally been interpr ...

. Scowles originated through the erosion of natural cave systems formed in the

Carboniferous Limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...

many millions of years ago. Uplift and erosion caused the cave system to become exposed at the surface. This was then exploited by

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

settlers through to

times for the extraction of

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 ...

. It is usually impossible to date open-cast extraction precisely, although ores with a chemical signature consistent with those from the Forest of Dean were certainly used to make tools and weapons in the late prehistoric period.

Roman Coins

Over 3,000 Roman-era

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

were found by workers in 1848. The coins were stored in three

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

jars in a cavity in the rock formations. The origin of the coins is unknown.

Literary influences

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' author

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...

has also visited Puzzlewood. The Forbidden Forest within the series bears some similarities to the geography of the area.

Filming location

Puzzlewood has been used as a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

for both film and television in recent years. Notable examples include:
Films * ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel '' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hall ...

'' (2010) * ''

Jack the Giant Slayer ''Jack the Giant Slayer'' (previously titled ''Jack the Giant Killer'') is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney, from a story by Lemke and David Dobki ...

'' (2013) * '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015) * '' The Huntsman: Winter's War'' (2016) * ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (2016) * ''The Secret Garden'' (2020) Television * ''Doctor Who'' (2005-present) * ''Merlin'' (2008-2012) * ''

Wizards vs Aliens ''Wizards vs Aliens'' is a British science fantasy television programme produced by BBC Cymru Wales and FremantleMedia Enterprises for CBBC (TV channel), CBBC and created by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford (writer), Phil Ford. The series focuses ...

'' (2012-2014) * ''

Tree Fu Tom Tree Fu Tom is a British live-action/ CGI television series which has been shown on BBC and CBeebies in the UK and Universal Kids and NBC in the USA. It is set in a miniature magical countryside and village area (Treetopolis) on the top of a pa ...

'' (2012-2016) * ''Atlantis'' (2013-2015) * ''

Da Vinci's Demons ''Da Vinci's Demons'' is a historical fantasy drama series that presents a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. The series was conceived by David S. Goyer and stars Tom Riley in the title role. It was developed and produced in ...

'' (2013-2015) * '' Hidden Kingdoms'' (2014) * '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'' (2019) *'' Cursed'' (2020-present)

References

External links

PuzzlewoodPhotographs of Puzzlewood and surrounding area on geograph
{{coord, 51.780, -2.615, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Forests and woodlands of Gloucestershire Forest of Dean