Quarries in or near Ruardean, Cinderhill ? (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, February 06, 2016, 00:27 (3207 days ago) @ dwdavis

"In his will in 1793 Richard Bradley of 'Vonestow' [aka Varnister] in the parish of Ruardean left his three quarries to his son William which he described as follows:
2. 'Situate at a place called Cinder Wholes' [perhaps a variant of Cinderhills]"

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Hi again Donald,
apologies for not properly investigating your "Cinderhills" suggestion.

I'm afraid until today I didn't realise there was a locality known as Cinderhill in the Ruardean area, as I'm sure you already knew, given your later post. Just in case it adds anything to your existing knowledge, the British History site gives the following 3 quotes, all from this webpage; http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp231-247

1. "At the west end of the village a medieval house known as Hathaways Hall was used in the 17th century as a court house and in 1667 there was a dwelling at the place called Cinder Hill, north of the main street."

From the map I now see Cinderhill Way dropping off Ruardean High Street, midway between the Church & the Malt Shovel pub (both of which I've visited several times over the years, so how did I miss Cinderhill !?)
The old maps show a "Rock House" in the Cinderhill way area, perhaps a quarrying hint?, but more importantly a few "old quarries" northwest of Ruardean town centre towards Ross, so generally in this Cinderhill Way area.
See top L/H corner of this 1883 map
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453361

2. "The iron industry generated much economic activity in Ruardean. Charcoal burners, who supplied the fuel for the forges, worked in or near the parish in the later 13th century. Among metal trades nailmaking, established in Ruardean by 1509, was represented by six nailers in 1608 and continued well into the 19th century. In 1667 and 1678 pins were apparently also made in the parish. The cinders left by the early forges, many of which were scattered near the village, were being removed for resmelting at nearby ironworks in the late 17th century. In 1702 the lord of Hathaways manor agreed to end digging at Cinder Hill where building had taken place and in 1722 the lord of Ruardean manor evicted four cottagers to enable cinders at Varnister green to be mined. Many horses were kept in the parish in the early 18th century to transport cinders and charcoal to ironworks and coal from the Forest to the surrounding countryside. Cinder mining and charcoal burning continued in Ruardean in the mid 1760s."

It seems reasonable to me that anyone cinder mining around Ruardean in the 1760s could perhaps then find themselves quarrying stone on a small-scale too ?.

It was actually the following hit for a local brickmaker that first drew me to this B.H. webpage, Moorwood isn't too far from both Cinderhill and the Pludds Quarry we discussed wrt Astonbridge;

3. "Stoneworking in Ruardean was represented by a mason in 1608, and in the 18th century and the early 19th several stonecutters, quarrymen, and masons lived there. Two lime burners were recorded in 1608 and a limekiln was built by the river Wye shortly before 1635. One or more kilns were operating near Bishopswood in 1818. A brickmaker living within the parish at Moorwood in 1803 opened a quarry and built a limekiln there before 1829. In the mid 19th century quarries were opened elsewhere in the parish and cranes and a shed were provided for working sandstone beds south of the village at Petty Croft. Many quarries and kilns had been abandoned by the late 1870s but limestone was still worked north of Drybrook. One quarry there was served by a railway in 1870 and was worked by the county council in 1910. The Drybrook quarries, which were idle in the mid 1920s, were served by the Forest's railway system from 1928 until 1953 and included tarmacadam works by 1942. The main quarry was enlarged considerably by Amey Roadstone Corporation after 1960 and in 1989 it employed 25 men and produced among other things crushed aggregates for the building industry and lime for agricultural use."

This old forum thread post shows how the placename Pludds, or Pluds on early maps, may be derived from Pugs, a brick-making term...
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=22488

Hope this helps, if only a little, Jeff.