Coleford is a
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
in the west of the
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
, England, east of the Welsh border and close to the
Wye Valley. It is the administrative centre of the
Forest of Dean district. The combined population of the town's two
electoral wards at the
2011 census was 8,359. The population of the town's parish was 9,273 in the 2021 Census.
The parish includes the village of Baker's Hill.
History
Coleford was originally a
tithing in the north-east corner of
Newland parish. The settlement arose at a
ford through which
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...
and iron ore were probably carried. By the mid-14th century, hamlets called Coleford and Whitecliff had grown up in the valley of Thurstan's Brook. Coleford had eight or more houses in 1349 and was described as a street in 1364. It had a place of worship by 1489. In 1642 the commander of a
parliamentary
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
garrison in Coleford started a market in the town, as the nearest chartered market in
Monmouth was under
royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
control.
[Coleford](_blank)
''A History of the County of Gloucester'': Volume 5 (1996), pp. 117–138. Victoria County History. Accessed 16 April 2013.
Coleford soon saw some action in the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. On 20 February 1643,
Lord Herbert, the Earl of Worcester's eldest son and the King's Lieutenant-General of South Wales, marched through Coleford heading for
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
, at the head of an army of 500 horse and 1500 foot. At Coleford their progress was impeded by a troop of Parliamentarians under Colonel Berrowe, aided by a disorderly group of country people. A skirmish ensued, in which the market-house was burnt and Major-General Lawday, who commanded the foot, and two other officers were shot dead from a window. Colonel Brett was then put in command of the foot, Lord John Somerset continuing at the head of the horse. The Royalists forced a passage through, after capturing Lieutenant-Colonel Winter, together with some other officers and soldiers, and so putting the Parliamentarians to flight. They then marched unimpeded to Gloucester.
After the
Restoration, a market was granted in 1661 and a new market house built in 1679. Much building took place in the town, which was thought by 1710 to have 160 houses. Of the older surviving buildings in the market place, the ''Old White Hart Inn'' dates from the 17th century. In the late 18th century and early 19th, the town expanded along its other streets and most of its older houses were rebuilt. The ''Angel Inn'', which had opened by the 1650s, was re-fronted or rebuilt around 1800. For many years it housed an
excise office. In the mid-18th century it was the town's principal
coaching inn
The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...
and used for public meetings and assemblies. The number of public houses increased as the town grew in importance. By 1830 there were seven or eight, most of them in the market place, and also a larger number of
beerhouses.
The market house (or town hall) was rebuilt on a larger scale in 1866. Also in the market place was the church, which was rebuilt on an octagonal plan in 1820, but proved too small for the growing congregation and was pulled down in 1882, its tower being retained for a
clock tower
Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...
. A much larger church, St John the Evangelist's, was built on a hillside overlooking the town. This church was closed in 2016 and its building put up for sale. Expansion continued in piecemeal fashion throughout the 20th century, through both council and private development. Traffic congestion in the market place was eased by demolition of the town hall in 1968 and the introduction of a gyro system around the clock tower.
Industry
Iron production in Coleford dates back to the Middle Ages. This produced large quantities of waste material or cinders. Some formed prominent mounds, which by the late 17th century were reworked to provide iron ore for the furnaces, which had become more efficient by then. The medieval ironworks were moveable forges operating on the royal
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
woodland of the
Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...
. An ore smithy or furnace was operating at
Whitecliff in 1361, and the hamlet had several in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the later Middle Ages, iron was also worked in Coleford town, where there was a furnace next to the chapel in 1539.
There was coalmining to the north and east of Coleford from the 16th century. Limestone was also quarried at the south-west end of Whitecliff before the 17th century.
Lime kilns operated at Whitecliff, and Scowles, which supplied much
lime to
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
.
In 1798, work began on
Whitecliff Ironworks on the south-western edge of Coleford. The furnace there probably began firing in 1801 or 1802, and a second one beside it before 1808. The output was limited by the quality of
coke required. In 1809
David Mushet, a noted metallurgist, was employed to increase productivity, but the works remained unprofitable and Mushet withdrew from the venture after a few months. The furnaces were abandoned several years later, perhaps by 1812 and certainly by 1816. The surviving ruins can be viewed by the public.
Transport
Coleford was on the route of a
tramway that opened in 1812 to link mines in the Forest with the
River Wye
The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...
at
Redbrook and
Monmouth.
[Forest of Dean: Industry](_blank)
''A History of the County of Gloucester'': Volume 5 (1996), pp. 326–354. Victoria County History. Accessed 16 April 2013. This continued in use until its track east of Coleford was lifted in the late 1870s.
The first railway to reach Coleford, a branch line from
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 s ...
, was opened by the
Severn and Wye Railway Company in 1875. It ran through
Milkwall to a station on the south-east side of the town. A second railway, the
Coleford Railway from
Monmouth, used parts of the old tramway route and was completed in 1883. It included a short tunnel at Whitecliff and crossed the Newland road to reach a station next to that of the Severn & Wye Co. A junction was made between the two railways in 1884, after the Monmouth line was taken over by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
. The Severn and Wye line ceased passenger services in 1929. And was then closed in 1967. The track between Whitecliff and Parkend was removed by 1971. Some railway buildings at Coleford, including a goods shed, were incorporated in the
Coleford Great Western Railway Museum that opened in 1988.
The nearest railway station today is
Lydney
Lydney is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been Bypass ( ...
(8 miles, 13 km).
Churches
The Anglican Holy Trinity Church near the centre of Coleford was built in 1831. It has services on Sunday and Wednesday. Coleford Baptist Church has a Sunday service, as does the town's Pentecostal Church. Both have Facebook pages.
Today
Coleford adapted more ably to the mine closures of the 1950s than its neighbour,
Cinderford. Their prime location in the heart of the Forest make them popular with walkers and cyclists and the local council has made moves to encourage further visitors. The large factory in the town, originally called Carters, then
Beechams, then
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...
, is now owned by the Japanese firm
Suntory
(commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...
. It is the sole production facility for
Ribena and
Lucozade. One surviving building is the former
goods shed for the defunct railway line to
Monmouth. This now houses the
Coleford GWR Museum.
SPP Pumps Ltd, Britain's leading pump manufacturer has its main UK manufacturing site at Coleford, where it employs over 300 people. It mainly caters to the industrial and offshore firefighting oil and gas markets, and to the UK municipal water market.
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC West and
ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the
Mendip and the local relay transmitters.
Local radio stations are
BBC Radio Gloucestershire,
Heart West,
Greatest Hits Radio South West, and Dean Radio, a community based radio station.
The town is served by the local newspaper, ''The Forester''.
Noted inhabitants
*
Olly Alexander
Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is an English singer, actor and List of LGBTQ rights activists, LGBTQ activist who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the English pop band Years & Years, who achieved two No. 1 albums on the U ...
(born 1990), singer and actor
*
Alan Cornwall (1898–1984), county cricketer and
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...
schoolmaster
*
Paul Groves (living), poet and schoolteacher, lived locally from 1971 to 1996.
*
Edna Healey (1918–2010), author and wife of
Denis Healey (1917–2015), was born in the Forest and lived in Coleford.
*
Mary Howitt (1799–1888), author of over 200 books, was born here.
[ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 28, Mary Howitt]
*
Alex McLean
Alex McLean (born 1975) is a British musician and researcher. He is notable for his key role in developing live coding as a musical practice,
including for creating TidalCycles, a live-coding environment that allows programmer musicians ...
(born 1975), electronic musician
*
David Mushet (1772–1847), Scottish metallurgist who pioneered techniques for iron production, lived in Coleford from 1810 to 1844.
*
Dennis Potter, author and playwright who frequently used the region as a setting in his work, was born near Coleford.
*
Shoo Rayner (born 1956), children's writer and illustrator
*
Andrew Taylor (born 1951), author
References
Gallery
File:ColefordClock.jpg, Coleford clock tower
File:The Parish Church of Coleford, Saint John the Evangelist - geograph.org.uk - 766948.jpg, The Parish Church of Coleford, St John the Evangelist
File:Former Independent Chapel, Coleford - geograph.org.uk - 765886.jpg, Former Independent Chapel
File:A pink and white confection - geograph.org.uk - 766940.jpg, A pink and white house (Rock Castle Dental Practice)
File:Coleford glos angel hotel.JPG, The Angel Hotel, behind the site of the old Market Hall
File:Coleford glos st johns street.JPG, St John's Street, in the centre of Coleford
File:Whitecliff Ironworks.jpg, Whitecliff Ironworks, on Newland Street
File:Coleford Baptist Church - geograph.org.uk - 765976.jpg, Coleford Baptist Church
External links
Coleford Town Council
{{authority control
Forest of Dean
Market towns in Gloucestershire
Towns in Gloucestershire
Towns of the Welsh Marches