Ruardean

Ruardean
Ruardean Location within Gloucestershire
Population	1,399 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SO621175
District	Forest of Dean
Shire county	Gloucestershire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Ruardean
Postcode district	GL17
Police	Gloucestershire
Fire	Gloucestershire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Forest of Dean
List of places UK England Gloucestershire 51°51′15″N 2°32′59″W / 51.854204°N 2.549622°W / 51.854204; -2.549622

Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the North West of Cinderford. It is situated on a hillside with views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but once it was a centre for iron-ore smelting furnaces, forges and coal mines. The Norman castle, now little more than a mound, commanded the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches and the Wye Valley.