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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:
1. 'Situate at a place called Hawkwell'
2. 'Situate at a place called Cinder Wholes' [perhaps a variant of Cinderhills]
3. 'Situate, lying and being at a place called or known by the name of Haston Bridge [likely a variant of Aston Bridge].
We plan to revisit Ruardean later this year and would like to see what remains of our Bradley ancestors' quarries. Suggestions regarding their location would be appreciated.

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Hi Donald,
I'm not a quarrying expert but I'll try. I see you're in Canada, but suspect you know the area to some extent, so apologies if I'm over-stating the "obvious" when trying to describe the various locations.

1. Hawkwell.
The only Hawkwell I know is between Steam Mills (north of Cinderford), and Ruardean Hill, just south of the main A4136 road from Nailbridge to Brierley. If you Google it you'll find hits such as this one, the modern map can switch to satellite image which will hopefully help you.
http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/north-lodge/hawkwell-green/cinderford/gl14-3jj/9692078

I think the above site's "Z" icon is actually marking the Hawkwell Brickworks which is approx where the big Northern United Colliery was, which itself was preceded by the Hawkwell mine. Despite my being a Cinderford man I'm no expert on exact locations of the old mines etc in the Steam Mills/Brierley area, only ever visited the area a few times as a youth to buy bricks with my father, so I know the brickworks was there in the late 1970s. I don't know if's prescence indicates there was/is quarrying on the site, I guess it might do ?. Brickmaking needs clay, near my West London home an extra branch of the Grand Union canal was built to serve the so-called brick"fields" near Langley/Slough where many millions of bricks were made at the clay pits to serve the growth of Victorian London.

This map shows the coal mines(black spots) & iron mines(brown spots) of the FoD in 1894, many years before they were reduced to just the Big Four deep mines of which Northern United was one.
http://lightmoor.co.uk/forestcoal/Overviewmap.html
Click on the centre-right to enlarge the East Dean section, Hawkwell mine is towards the top, just south of the dotted road.

However, despite the above, my initial thought was that quarries in the Dean usually infer exposed hillsides or cliffs, such as on Wilderness/Plump Hill twixt Nailbridge/Drybrook & Mitcheldean, rather than flat low-lying areas such as this Hawkwell area. An example is the working Hanson quarry above the Hawthorns part of Drybrook, which can easily be found by tracking "up" the aerial photo on the link above.

Also see http://aboutglos.co.uk/forest-of-dean-walk-plump-hill-fairplay-pond-drybrook/30-view-to...

And this wrt Scowles, ancient iron workings damaged by more recent quarrying
http://way-mark.co.uk/foresthaven/scowles/startup.htm#

The best & normally first port of call for an enquiry such as this is the superb British History site, "the" definitive official history of the area, it confirms that Hawkwell is near Steam Mills, saying;

"Further north at Hawkwell new tinplate works were started in 1879 by Jacob Chivers, formerly a tinplate manufacturer at Kidwelly (Carmarthenshire.). The Hawkwell works, which on Chivers's death in 1883 passed to his brotherin-law A. C. Bright, were shut down in 1895 and were converted as brickworks in 1905.

Brickmaking had become a Forest industry by the early 19th century and expanded considerably after 1838, when the digging of clay and sand was permitted under licence from the Commissioners of Woods. Brickyards were opened in various places, including Whitecroft, Ellwood, Parkend, and Staple Edge. They usually manufactured fire bricks as well as ordinary bricks and several were attached to local ironworks. David Mushet, who had brickworks next to his ironworks at Dark Hill in 1832, supplied bricks to South Wales in 1843. Brickworks established by the Coleford-Parkend road at Fetter Hill by 1858 also produced pottery. By the late 1870s, when several brickyards were in production at Steam Mills and Nailbridge, the industry made extensive use of shale from colliery spoil tips. The Brain family used clay from Trafalgar colliery at brickworks at Steam Mills; later the Princess Royal Colliery Co. near Whitecroft manufacured bricks and in 1923 the Lydney & Crumpmeadow Collieries Co. opened brickworks at Broadmoor. Brickworks occupying abandoned steelworks on Gorsty knoll in 1928 were closed in 1937. Brickmaking continued into the later 20th century, particularly in the Cinderford area where the Hawkwell and Broadmoor yards employed 62 people in 1959."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp326-354
(My niece's partner works at a Cinderford yard making hand-made bricks, I think the Hawkwell yard, I really should quiz him on it!)

For more Brickmaking see http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=22488

The excellent Wild Swan book "The Forest of Dean Branch Vol 2", by Ian Pope of Lightmoor site fame, carries many old photos & history of the Hawkwell and adjoining areas, all generally flat greens. It shows that Northern United pit is clearly visible 1/4 mile or so south & below the Nailbridge-Brierley Road. It also contains extracts of old Ordnance Survey maps which show several "clay pits" around the area, such as at the old Nelson Brickworks at Nelson Green towards Brierley. It states how altho' most pits were sunk looking for coal, some people realised the clay was worth extracting hence the brickyards were set-up. The book doesn't give precise locations for the area's many mines and works, but this list gives exact map reference 6430 1590 for Hawkwell Colliery, clearly nearby Northern at 6360 1560.
http://www.copsewood.org/mining/books/oldham/fod_02.htm
(I refer to Northern as this was the last mine in the area, it's site is marked with a Memorial so is a good reference point now. However it's extensive workings & subsequent clearing on closing may have destroyed any evidence of earlier workings including quarrying. The whole area is due for redeveloping, this newspaper article from 2013 gives an indicator as to the ongoing plans. If you read the interesting comments below the article, some words of wisdom about the old mines are written by "vuristerodean"; I wonder if this is the same miner who briefly posted on this forum as "vurister" few years back, sadly no longer..)
http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Cinderford-Northern-Quarter-regeneration-scheme/stor...

CONTINUED NEXT POST

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(cont.)
Ian Pope's book details how the Hawkwell Brickworks was rebuilt as the Coleford Brick & Tile Co in 1936, a 1960s photo shows it's perhaps 1/2 mile from the Northern United spoil tip.
It also contains a superb old photo of Hawkwell Row, a terrace of 16 houses built by Joseph Chivers for his mine workforce, it's still there at base of Ruardean Hill overlooking the A4136 road.

2. "Cinder wholes" could be almost anywhere in the Forest that has a charcoal-burning or ironmaking history, so it could be Cinderhills as you say. Possibly the nearest to "your" area is mentioned in the Mitcheldean section of the British History site, but who knows for sure ???

"Ironworking continued in the later Middle Ages, when furnaces, known as oresmithies, were supplied with ore mined presumably at the Wilderness or in the adjoining royal demesne. Slag from the works was tipped in many parts of the town to form cinder hills, the most notable being in Brook Street. The masters running the industry were known as smith-holders and several were also engaged in mining and husbandry in the early 16th century. One parishioner, by will proved 1570, required the user of his anvil and bellows to distribute 12d. a year to the poor on Good Friday. In the early 16th century eight smithies, presumably including several forges, were working on Sir Alexander Baynham's estate but in the 1540s, when several smithies were used for other purposes, the town's iron industry was in decline and at the end of the century it was not of primary importance. Many, if not all, of the miners living in Mitcheldean at that time presumably mined iron ore at the Wilderness. Limestone was being quarried there by 1634, when a man was granted liberty to burn lime."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp173-195

3. "Hastonbridge" is probably, as you say, Aston Bridge. You probably know this is the area to the southwestern side of Ruardean Hill, north of Brierley, so quite near Hawkwell to it's south. Modern satellite photos shows small-scale quarrying still in the middle of the woods, just south of the Pludds. This may be the same Quarry referred to in this newspaper article, which describes the death of Pludds man and freeminer Eric Morris, who worked at Astonbridge Quarry, "which was opened by his great-great grandfather in 1841".

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Wife-s-tribute-Forest-freeminer-Eric-Morris-80/story...

Here's another mention of presumably the same quarry, in 1899.
http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/site/database/result/10271.html

This Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology Report about Quarrying c1841 mentions Astonbridge Quarry, altho sadly the relevant diagram plan is not present - I suggest you contact for clarification, this maybe just a website problem.
http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/2007/gi200714.pdf

Further evidence is again found within the British History site,

"The hamlet of Brierley, sometimes called Brierley Hill, on the main Coleford road southwest of Nailbridge, grew in the mid 19th century. The earliest cottages, built between 1787 and 1834, were one at a quarry on the north side of the road, and ...."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp300-325

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Regarding your hope to revisit the quarries from over 200 years ago, I'm afraid I think this will be very difficult. As with the mines, I would have expected any quarry in 1793 to be significantly changed by now. If not completely worked-out hence drastically enlarged hence change of landscape, or visually "landscaped" by forest regrowth such as the old spoil heaps at Fancy View ?. Even evidence of the large Victorian quarrying on Plump Hill is hard to spot nowadays, so what chance something much earlier and probably smaller ?.

So, hopefully this helps. The next step is to lookup the old Ordnance Survey maps, altho' they only started in the mid 1800s, I'll try tomorrow as it's rather late now.

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Jeff,
Your prompt, detailed and useful response to my query is very much appreciated. I am working my way through the links and learning from them. I appreciate your sound advice about what can be expected when exploring a landscape more than two hundred years after three small quarries were worked with the relatively simple tools of the later eighteenth century. I enjoyed a visit to the Geomap shortly after it opened and know that the three quarries I am particularly interested in were not among the 49 major quarries portrayed there. That project, though, did whet my appetite to learn more about the geology of the Forest of Dean.

I am currently rereading the 1942 survey which provides some encouragement that those slopes above and below and over the rise from Varnister will reveal some traces of what a Varnister quarryman might be walking to and from in a long day's work. Your point that the terrain may be overgrown or much exploited in later times making it challenging to pinpoint the small operations carried out prior to and presumably after 1793. The late William Dreghorn's Geology Explained in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley with its fine illustrations and cross-sections of the Ruardean area have been helpful in demystifying those strata and suggesting just what the Bradley quarrymen would likely have been cutting, wedging, crowbarring and hauling out of the hillside.

I am sorry not to have met Eric Morris. It would have been fascinating to learn first-hand from him about his experiences in working an Aston Bridge quarry all these years later. Thank you again Jeff for opening doors for us. This is a most helpful start to our preparations for quarry hunting in the Forest later this year.
Donald

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Hi Donald,
thanks for your kind comments, altho it appears you already have better knowledge than me on quarrying. Re the various areas, have you tried studying the old maps ?. That said, the First Series of the highly-detailed Ordnance Survey maps were not drawn until 1831, so after your ancestors' time, but still a useful guide to the old days & locations.

The "Vision of Britain" website has these earliest 1831 maps. However I'm struggling to see anything resembling quarrying in the three areas we discussed yesterday, I guess this wern't considered relevant for military purposes by the surveying Army Engineers, all the maps were hand-drawn in the field of course. I'm also surprised to see no mention of Hawkwell colliery area on the map at all (but then again it's not marked on the much later maps from that site either??).

This link to the 1831 map may not take you straight there; if not click the "bigger map" button at right. Then select "19th Century" from dropdown menu. Zoom-into the map image using mousewheel and image will progress thro' various maps until reaches the B&W O.S. from 1831 (as displayed below the map image). The big plus for this site over the others is the maps are all cleverly joined-together without any apparent seams, so one can drap and move long distances without having to reload new map pages as per the other sites.
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/?layer=europe&xMin=3144850.46274&yMin=28...

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This newer NLS site has greater coverage, however each map must be loaded separately, and it only has maps after 1883:

Here's the 1883 map for the Astonbridge area, I see quarries clearly marked just south of the Pludds, so much the same location as discussed yesterday. This map interests me as my father's ancestors were coal miners living in the Horse Lea (Hawsley) and Reddings areas to the northwest.

Zoom into the lower-centre of the map using your mousewheel.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453361

If you zoom into the lower L/H side of the adjoining map, from 1884, it shows the Hawkwell colliery area: derived from Hawkes Well, marked as "Springs" above the mine across the road (now the A4136).
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453373

The next Issue Map from 1901 actually marks the spring as Hawkes Well, as well as Hawkwell Terrace as discussed earlier, right next to the mine.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453370

These and later maps can be loaded from the menu on right of this next webpage, all from the blue'd box on it's master map. To move to adjoining maps, just point & click on the relevant box to load that map set.
http://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=12&lat=51.8531&lon=-2.5353&layers=39&...

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The latest map from 1953 is helpful as it shows the Northern United colliery too, thankfully this is not on the exact Hawkwell site as I'd worried yesterday, altho the underground workings do overlap. It also shows the Hawkwell brickworks, so both can be readily found nowadays.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453364

I imagine you'll have seen the "quarries" marked just east of Hawkes Well, overlooking the (long-gone) Railway Inn at Nailbridge. Could this be the location of your "Hawkwell Quarry" ??. My only reservation is that, as far as I can tell reading the British History website(below), there has been a place called "Nailbridge" since the late C18th, possibly known as a place earlier than "Hawkswell", so surely your ancestors would describe their quarry as "Nailbridge" ?? At least that location is easy to find nowadays, right at the traffic-light-controlled road junction.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?mode=thread&id=6875

"Nailbridge, in the Dry brook valley, took its name from a bridge carrying the Mitcheldean- Coleford road over the brook. In the later 1790s the section of the road over Harrow hill from Stenders, to the north-east, was diverted through Drybrook village to cross the brook at Teague's (or Pluckpenny) bridge, upstream of Nail bridge, and run south-eastwards to a junction with the Coleford road, from where new roads were built to Littledean to the south-east in the late 1820s and to Mitcheldean, over Plump hill, in 1841. In 1834 there were five cottages west of the brook near Teague's bridge. Some later buildings in that area, where two engine houses were used as dwellings in 1856, were on Morse Road, constructed in 1841 as a continuation north-westwards of the road from Littledean. To the south-east an area alongside the road filled with mines and railways was covered after 1960 with the extensive yards and buildings of a timber and builders' merchant, and at the junction of the Coleford road a beerhouse, opened by 1841 and known as the Railway inn in 1856, was demolished after 1960. To the south-west on the north side of the Coleford road a terrace of 15 cottages, later called Hawkwell Row, was built in the 1880s or 1890s by Jacob Chivers or A. C. Bright, successive owners of a nearby colliery and tinplate works..."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp300-325

The builder's merchants is Hale & Co, started as a smithy etc, much history already on this site/forum, also
http://www.haleco.co.uk/history.htm

British History site for FoD Industry inc Quarrying
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp326-354#h3-0004
Hawkwell Colliery http://www.sungreen.co.uk//Cinderford/Hawkwell-Colliery.htm

More Northern United info
http://www.fdean.gov.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=8300&tt=graphic

This will give you an appreciation of good and bad days of Northern United, the last deep mine in the Dean.
http://forest-of-dean.net/gallery/cinderford_2/mediafiles/l21.jpg
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/cinderford_east_dean/northern_united.html

As well as in this FoD site's Photo section, of course, the following link is to a site owned by author and friend of the Dean and this forum, Neil Parkhouse. Sadly no photos of Dean Quarries but plenty of the Mines.
http://www.archive-images.co.uk/gallery/Archive-Images-of-the-Forest-of-Dean-Coalfield/

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Using the above sites should allow you to view maps for the Mitcheldean area too, I hope you find something relevant, despite my failing to do so. Please, any problems with the links (I know from experience the map sites can be demanding of both computer & user), just ask.

atb Jeff.

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Further to my above post which I'm afraid I hijacked from quarrying to brickmaking, I've asked my niece and can confirm her partner works at the aforementioned Hawkwell brickworks, in the woods near Northern colliery, as shown on the aerial photos. This company is still known as Coleford Brick & Tile, as it was when they built the works in 1936, on the site of the old Hawkwell Brickworks. This works was in addition to their original home at Marion Brickworks near Coleford which they acquired in 1925.
Like so many companies their business suffered under Government intervention during WW2, and the Marion works were closed in 1950 after all work transferred to Hawkwell.
After a recent lull their business is now on the upturn again, their hand-thrown bespoke bricks are in demand for upper-end niche projects across the UK, their website is here http://www.colefordbrick.co.uk/about-us/

More about their methods here http://www.penmorfa.com/bricks/coleford_brick.htm

Some photos of the process http://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/coleford_brick.htm

One of their recent prestigious orders was for the recently rebuilt RSC Theatre in Stratford, much of their bricks go to restoring older buildings.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsi...

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As stated in the British History site
"Brickmaking continued into the later 20th century, particularly in the Cinderford area where the Hawkwell and Broadmoor yards employed 62 people in 1959."

I'm pleased to say the Broadmoor yard is also still in business. I've struggled to find much about this company online, I think as they are part of a larger company. Once again Ian Pope's superb book "Forest of Dean Branch Volume 2" contains history and photos of the works, it seems odd to see it surrounded by green in photos as late as 1962, my birthyear, nowadays it's firmly within the Whimsey Industrial Estate, below Lower Cinderford. Bricks were possibly made here since 1915, to take advantage of the virtual closure of the original Hawkwell yard. The "modern" Broadmoor Brickworks was built in 1922 by Lydney & Crump Meadow Collieries Co, owner of nearby Crump Meadow pit. The Works was on the site of the old Duck pit, so next to Winning & Regulator pits, in an attempt by the Company to diversify as coal output fell, by making bricks from the old spoil heaps including from Crump Meadow which eventually closed in 1929. This photo graphically shows just how big these spoil heaps were, their remains are harder to spot nowadays under cover of conifers.
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Cinderford/Cinderford-Crump-Meadow-Colliery.htm

For more history abt Crump Meadow Colliery, see
http://way-mark.co.uk/foresthaven/historic/crumpmdw.htm
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=37701

In 1938 Broadmoor Brickworks was updated to raise production from 2.5 to 6 million bricks per year. In 1946 it was thought the spoil would give another 30 years brick production. Perhaps ironically, coal to fire the kilns was brought from the same Company's Arthur & Edward pit at Lydbrook.
This 1953 map shows the brickworks, zoom to bottom L/H corner.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453364

Nowadays the works use modern automated mass-production techniques, unlike Hawkwell's hand-thrown, for use by new-build customers. It's pleasing to see they name their products after local placenames.
http://admin.brickhunter.com/broadmoor-brickworks-profile
http://completelyindustrial.co.uk/trade-parks/scheme/Whimsey-Industrial-Estate-Gloucest...

This page's satellite photo ("behind" the Map, keep zooming) shows they are situated at the back of the old Engelhards factory, now BASF Recycling, next to St John's Cricket Club ground.
http://www.manta.com/cmap/mtz0nqp/broadmoor-brickworks-ltd

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Apologies to anyone not sharing my current "obsession" with brickmaking, but as a metal-bashing engineer I'm finding this ancient and important industry an interesting and somewhat unexpected diversion from the quarrying, mining and iron-making I normally associate with the Dean, altho' on reflection it does seem an obvious related trade.

The above post mentions the Marion Brickworks near Coleford of the 1920s era. I thought I'd try to fill in the history of this company.

As in the past, the truly excellent Dance Family website provides this useful info in conjunction with the British History website, referring to the Scowles area west of Coleford towards Staunton;

"A number of Scowles residents were employed in the nearby brickworks. Across the road nearly opposite Scowles Farm was the ancient trackway, Mary's Lane, which led from Scowles to Marions Brickworks.
Brick clays were dug nearby from the Coal Measures, then molded and fired in the dome shaped kilns.
A brickyard on the Staunton road beyond Crossways was occupied in 1821 by James Machen, owner of the Eastbach estate, and in the following year by James Hall who revived brickmaking there in the 1840s and 1850s. He went bankrupt in 1860 and the yard passed to the control of Jones & Co in 1867 and William James in 1876.In the 1920s it was the Coleford Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. The yard, which was known as Marian's brickworks, ceased production around 1940, and the kilns and some buildings were demolished in the early 1950s when it became became the site of a sawmill and fence factory."

http://deanweb.info/scowles.html
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp117-138

Unfortunately the Grace's Guide site doesn't immediately mention the Brickworks Co, but then gave this reference to an Exhibitor at the prestigious 1862 London Exhibition in Kensington.

"TERRET, J., Coleford, Gloucestershire. Brick tiles and pipes."
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1862_London_Exhibition:_Catalogue:_Class_I.:_J._Terret

Perhaps the same businesses listed in these Coleford Trade Directories ?
From 1852,
"Carpenters & Builders
TERRETT John (& ironmonger), Coleford"
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cbennett/coleford1852.htm

And in 1876, his widow ?
"Trades and Professions
TERRETT Mrs. Hannah, ironmonger, builder, brick and tilemaker, and timber and slate merchants, High street"
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cbennett/coleford1876.htm

Which by 1902 possibly becomes
"TAYLOR Terrett & Sons, ironmongers & builders., Market St"
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cbennett/coleford1902.htm
(the same directory gives this Private Resident entry, presumably a well-to-do household, possibly linked ?; "TAYLOR Thomas Terrett J. P., Market place".

I haven't been able to find these particular Terretts already mentioned in this site's forum. The PRs give John's death, date etc fits the above information.

Record_ID: 61243
Entry_Number: 50
Year: 1869
Month: Jun
Day: 23
Surname: TERRETT
Forenames: John
Residence: of Coleford in the Parish of Newland. Builder and Contractor
Age_at_death: 72
Officiating_Minister: The Rev'd Tho[ma]s Holbrow Incumbent of Coleford
Event: Interment
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda: (1) at Coleford in the Parish of Newland (2) South'n Division A Adults Graves (3) I 33 and (4) Consecrated (5)
Notes:
Register_Reference: DA25/204/2
Page_No: 3
Parish_Chapel: Coleford Cemetery
Soundex: T630

Record_ID: 36453
Entry_Number: 831
Year: 1835
Month: Mar
Day: 7
Grooms_Surname: TERRETT
Grooms_Forenames: John
Grooms_Age:
Groom_Condition: Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation:
Grooms_Residence: Newland
Grooms_Fathers_Surname:
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames:
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation:
Brides_Surname: POWELL
Brides_Forenames: Hannah
Brides_Age:
Brides_Condition: Spinster
Brides_Occupation:
Brides_Residence: Newland
Brides_Fathers_Surname:
Brides_Fathers_Forenames:
Brides_Fathers_Occupation:
Licence_or_Banns: Licence
Date_of_Banns:
Signature_or_Mark: Both sign
Witness_1: James Powell
Witness_2: Catharine Powell
Other_Witnesses:
Officiating_Minister: George Ridout Vicar
Event: Marriage
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P227 IN 1/11
Page_Number: 277
Parish_Chapel: Newland
Soundex_Groom: T630
Soundex_Bride: P400

Record_ID 61652
Entry_Number 456
Year 1877
Month Jul
Day 23
Surname TERRETT
Forenames Hannah
Residence Ironmonger
Age_at_death 77
Officiating_Minister Thomas Holbrow
Event Interment
Cause_of_death
Memoranda (1) Coleford (2) South Div'n Adults Gr (3) I 33 & J 33 (4) Consecrated (5)
Notes
Register_Reference DA25/204/2
Page_No 23
Parish_Chapel Coleford Cemetery
Soundex T630

If anyone can add Census info I'd be interested, please, especially if the building or brickmaking trades are mentioned, thanks.
I'm unable to find any children from this couple in the PRs, FreeBMD or GlosBMD.
?

Seems like the Marion name maybe derived from the nearby Robin Hood pit ?
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=11589

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UPDATED MARCH 2019.

The owner of the cottage at the old saw mills has recently reported part of their front garden collapsing into what looks like the old kilns which were buried under the saw mills operation.
I also find this detailed history of the site from December 2018, which has used this thread as one of it's reference sources ! It also has some useful photo and map images.
https://www.irhb.org/wiki/index.php/Marian%27s_Brick_Works_(Forest_of_Dean)

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Terrett Taylor as they were known in the 1950's, shop was close to the Clock Tower next to the Unicorn public House with Trotters (now fairways Furnishing) department store below the Unicorn.

My Grandfathers cousin Harry Walker who was a well known local builder, County Counciller (he built Bream School in about 1909) was involved with Terrett Taylors in the latter years and his son Sir Gervase Walker was manager there in his younger days.

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Thanks Alison.

This site has this 1930s advert for Terrett Taylor Builder's Merchants "established nearly a century";
http://forest-of-dean.net/gallery/fod_guide/pages/page_32.html

Also http://www.sungreen.co.uk/coleford_forest-of_dean/terett_taylor_invoice_1939.html
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Coleford-Glos/Terrett_Taylor.html

More memories, perhaps yours?, of the family business here. It mentions the shop backs onto the railway, I've seen photos of railway wagons in the TT livery.
http://www.francisfrith.com/coleford/terrett-taylor-ironmongers_memory-186441
Clicking the photo will enlarge it, in time.

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His obituary from 29 August 2001 describes his full life in detail, starting

"SIR GERVAS WALKER, who has died aged 80, was an important figure in local government; he was also instrumental in the setting up of the new county of Avon in 1973, becoming its first Chairman in 1974.
Gervas George Walker was born on September 12 1920 in the Wye Valley and attended Monmouth School. He left school in 1938, after which he joined the Territorial unit of the Gloucestershire Regiment. When war was declared a year later, Walker was transferred to the Royal Artillery.
In 1944, shortly after his marriage, he was posted to France and, like so many others, was parted from his new wife for the next 11 months. He saw action at Falaise and through Belgium to the Crossing of the Rhine, towards the end of the war.
On returning to civilian life, Walker joined the family firm of construction and civil engineers, based in London and Bristol..."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1338793/Sir-Gervas-Walker.html

The Queen and Sir Gervas Walker at Filton High School, 1977, Silver Jubilee Year.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4036/4699662864_cdff7aa892_b.jpg

I cannot find him in this site's PRs, or his parents for sure, but FreeBMD has;

Surname First name(s) Mother District Vol Page
Births Dec 1920 (>99%)
Walker Gervase G Williams Monmouth 11a 49

Surname First name(s) Spouse District Vol Page
Marriages Jun 1944 (>99%)
MAXWELL Jessie E Walker St.Asaph 11b 401
WALKER Gervas G Maxwell St.Asaph 11b 401
(St Asalph is in North Wales)

His brother, perhaps ?
Surname First name(s) Mother District Vol Page
Births Sep 1911 (>99%)
WALKER Percival H Williams Monmouth 11a 40

--------

UPDATE:

Thanks to Mike Pinchin for the January 1947 "Citizen" cutting, showing Gervas as the recently-selected prospective Parliamentary Liberal candidate for the FoD, announced at a meeting at Cinderford Town Hall. The article confirms his father as Mr H.J.Walker, hence it seems this is his parents' marriage record;

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Sep 1910 (>99%)

WALKER Harry J Chepstow 11a 37
Williams Susanna M Chepstow 11a 37

This site's PRs gives;

Record_ID: 60246
Entry_Number: 518
Year: 1881
Month: Jun
Day: 28
Parents_Surname: WALKER
Child_Forenames: Harry James
Fathers_Forenames: George
Mothers_Forenames: Emma
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: The Fence
Occupation: Navigator
Officiating_Minister: W[illia]m Taprell Allen Vicar
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: son of P[rivately] (Received into the Church July 31 1881)
Notes:
Register_Reference: P278 IN 1/7
Page_Number: 65
Parish_Chapel: St Briavels
Soundex: W426

(Presume father George is a civil engineering "navvy", rather than a ship's navigator, given these PR and Census Records, see below. ?)

Record_ID 23382
Entry_Number 373
Year 1869
Month Feb
Day 6
Grooms_Surname WALKER
Grooms_Forenames George
Grooms_Age 23
Groom_Condition Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation Woodman
Grooms_Residence Lower Meen [?] S[t] Briavels
Grooms_Fathers_Surname Walker
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames George
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation Labourer
Brides_Surname THOMAS
Brides_Forenames Emma
Brides_Age 20
Brides_Condition Spinster
Brides_Occupation
Brides_Residence The Fence [?] S[t] Briavels
Brides_Fathers_Surname Thomas
Brides_Fathers_Forenames George
Brides_Fathers_Occupation Labourer
Licence_or_Banns Banns
Date_of_Banns
Signature_or_Mark Both sign
Witness_1 Mark of William Berrow
Witness_2 Harriett Jones
Other_Witnesses
Officiating_Minister W[illia]m Taprell Allen MA Vicar
Event Marriage
Memoranda
Notes
Register_Reference P278 IN 1/12
Page_Number 187
Parish_Chapel St Briavels
Soundex_Groom W426
Soundex_Bride T520

-------
LDS FamilySearch gives;

1881 Census, St Briavels.
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace

George Walker Head M 34 "General Laborer", St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England
Emma Walker Wife F 32 St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England
Rose E Walker Daughter F 10 St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England
George T Walker Son M 9 St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England
Arthur H Walker Son M 3 St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England
Esther Walker Daughter F 2 St Briavels, Gloucestershire, England

1891 Census, St Briavels.
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
George Walker Head M 44 "WOODARD LABOURER", Gloucestershire, England
Emma Walker Wife F 42 Gloucestershire, England
Rose Ellen Walker Daughter F 20 Gloucestershire, England
Arthur Henry Walker Son M 13 Gloucestershire, England
Esther Elizabeth Walker Daughter F 12 Gloucestershire, England
Harry James Walker Son M 9 Gloucestershire, England
Emily Agusta Annie Walker Daughter F 7 Gloucestershire, England
Mary Ann Walker Daughter F 5 Gloucestershire, England
Hubert Reuben Walker Son M 3 Gloucestershire, England

1901 Census, St Briavels.
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
George Walker Head M 53 "WOODARD ON AN ESTATE", St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Emma Walker Wife F 50 St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Rose E Walker Daughter F 29 St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Harry J Walker Son M 19 St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Mary A Walker Daughter F 15 St Briavels, Gloucestershire
Reuben H Walker Son M 13 St Briavels, Gloucestershire

-----------------------

Other F.o.D. Liberal Party officials named in the 1947 newspaper article include Mr C.A.J.Hale, treasurer and W.H.Eagles, secretary.

see this post re William Henry Eagles of Coleford.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/fodmembers/index.php?id=44110

I think C.A.J. Hale must be;

Birth Details
Child Surname Child Forename Father Surname Mother Surname Mother's Former Name Year District Office Register Entry
HALE Charles Alfred Jenkins HALE HALE JONES 1869 Forest of Dean Westbury on Severn, Newnham 30 277

Marriage Details
Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
HALE Charles Alfred Jenkins BRIGHT Edith Sarah Ida Forest of Dean Westbury-on-Severn (FoD) Register Office [Closed] 1895 10 140

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Percival H Walker was indeed his Brother and all the other info re; Sir Gervas walker's family is correct.

His Father Harry was also a local preacher in the 2 congregational chapels, (1 in St Briavels and 1 on St Briavels Common. Both are still there. I am not sure whether they carried out baptisms, certainly not in the time I was attending the Sunday School in 1950's.

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Thanks Alison.
Please may I ask if Gervas's family have any roots into Derbyshire, perhaps ?.
I ask as while searching FreeBMD for his records, his records stood out as very different from all the others. There is a long line of "Gervas Walker" records in Belper, Derbyshire, dating right back to the 1830s; there may have been even more if spelt slightly differently as I'm sure happened occasionally.
Just a thought, pardon my curiosity !, J

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Just a coincidence. The Walker Family originated from Hill, which is not far from Berkeley on the other side of the Severn. There should be some old forum messages on this site, probably archived, by Ruth Churchill Walker about 2007. I was liasing with her then.

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My father Fred Fowler went to work at Terrett Taylor Ironmongers at the age of 14 in 1924 when the shop was still owned by the Taylor family. Miss Taylor lived at Forest House, which became a hotel and restaurant. During the war years my father was in the army, but returned to work and later became manager. He stayed there until 1964 when he opened his own shop A F. Fowler .
I am not sure when the Walker family bought the shop, but I remember Harry Walker very well. I don't remember his sons having much to do with the shop until after Harry died.

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There is a very nice photograph on the Sungreen website of Terrett Taylor premises, with Harry Walker ,my Dad Fred Fowler and other employees.

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Re the aforementioned Thomas Terrett Taylor J.P. of Coleford Market Place in the 1902 Directory, the BNA old newspapers show he was an acting Coleford magistrate from 1896 until at least 1916. The Gloucester Journal of Saturday 8th March 1919 carries an article about his death "at an advanced age" the previous Wednesday.

This site's PRs show;

Record_ID: 37165
Entry_Number: 799
Year: 1828
Month: Sep
Day: 22
Parents_Surname: TAYLOR
Child_Forenames: Thomas Terrett
Fathers_Forenames: William
Mothers_Forenames: Sarah
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Lydney
Occupation: Baker
Officiating_Minister: H.C.H.Hawkins Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda: Son of
Notes:
Register_Reference: PFC 209 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 100
Parish_Chapel: Lydney
Soundex: T460

Record_ID: 170699
Entry_Number: 2547
Year: 1919
Month: Mar
Day: 8
Surname: TAYLOR
Forenames: Thomas Terrett
Residence: Ironmonger
Age_at_death: 89
Officiating_Minister: T Lovat Jones
Event: Interment
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda: (1) Coleford (2) [not stated] (3) H 21 (4) Unconsecrated (5)
Notes:
Register_Reference: DA25 / 204 / 30
Page_No: 27
Parish_Chapel: Coleford Cemetery
Soundex: T460

GlosBMD, Marriage Details

Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
TAYLOR Thomas Terrett SIMS Sarah Forest of Dean Monmouth Register Office [Closed] 1856 3 152

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"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]"

-------------------------

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.

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Forgive my interruption of this dialogue. I wondered if you could tell me exactly what type of rocks they would have been quarrying at Moorwood?

My GGG Grand father John Morgan (b 1820) was a quarryman resident at Moorwood /Reddings area during until the 1880's. His son Henry was also a stonecutter although he later moved to the
North East to work as a coalminer.

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Hi Carole, yours or anyone else's input is always very welcome, please, especially if it comes from personal/family experience like yours, whereas in this instance mine is just cribbed from various references.
I suspect Donald will know what the Moorwood/Lydbrook quarries were extracting for sure, I'm afraid I always tend to think red Forest sandstone as per the East Dean quarries we foolishly played in as 70s kids.

This excellent page of notes about the Royal Spring pub at Vention, Moorwood, suggests limestone;
"Lydbrook is made up of a number of settlements of which the Vention area is but one. It is situated in the north east of the present parish. The lane leading down from the Morewood past the inn and down to the River Wye having also served as a tramway in the 1820’s. The area has two marketable assets, limestone and coal, A large quarry and some limekilns lie above the inn, and another limekiln was built about halfway down towards the river. The incline is very steep."
http://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/AllGlosPubsDatabase/RAIGConnection.php?pubid1=1396
The old maps of the area do show several old lime kilns, lime was a very valuable product in past years for many purposes, particularly fertiliser.

The 125 page report "The Forest of Dean Landscape" splits the Forest into different areas from a "landscape" viewpoint, it lists the following under the "Limestone Hills" heading; Bicknor Hills, Highmeadow Woods & Staunton Hills, Coleford & Christchurch Hills, Newland Hills, Ruardean Hills." This section starts with a map clearly showing this part of the Western Dean, see report page 15.
https://www.fdean.gov.uk/media/Assets/ForwardPlan/documents/Sustainability%20Team/Secti...

The following page details the area in pure geology terms, all a bit heavy-going for me I'm afraid !. However the cross-section thro the Forest simplifies it, you can click to enlarge it to show it cuts thro' the Dean from the Western side (Wye) thro Clearwell(Coleford) then Cannop to Soudley(Cinderford) in the East.
To me this suggests the majority of the exposed (so most easily quarried) stone on the far Western forest including Moorwood is indeed Carboniferous Limestone, whereas "my" Drybrook/Soudley side is largely Red Sandstone. This clearly reflects the aforementioned Landscape Report.
http://www.glosgeotrust.org.uk/fod_geology.shtml
That said, the Bixlade Quarries between Coleford and Cannop are red Sandstone, so clearly there are some localised outcrops that differ from the norm shown on the cross-section.

I hope this is correct, hopefully others far more expert than I'll ever be will also contribute, please.

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Thank you for that. i think that the limestone sounds right. John Morgan died from lung problems which you would associate with the limestone. Was the limestone used in the iron ore industry. That is a thought lodged in the back of my brian.
Thanks again.

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Hi Carole,
yes, limestone is a key ingredient to add to a blast furnace along with iron ore and coke, to help remove acidic impurities from the iron ore. Limestone contains calcium carbonate, this reacts with the impurities to form molten slag which can then be skimmed off to leave the molten iron behind. Like limestone itself, this slag can then be used for roadmaking, or added to cement. The remaining molten iron is then cast into moulds to produce bulky items, or used to produce tougher wrought iron.

For centuries the Forest was the centre of quality iron-making for all of Britain, until the C18th when overtaken by other areas which had more abundant coke to fuel the new blast furnaces, not charcoal. Even then, Thomas Teague's ironworks at Cinderford (from sinders = slag, leftovers from Roman? processes) opened briefly c1810 and sporadically after that. The Forest iron industry gradually became left-behind by bigger & better-sited areas such as in South Wales. The death knell came when steel became more popular than iron, with it's better strength & durability. Steel is iron which has had the embrittling carbon levels reduced by blowing oxygen thro' the molten mix. At first very expensive to produce, steel became economically viable for mass-production in lieu of iron in the mid C19th, when Henry Bessemer finalised his Convertor Process, albeit by "borrowing" the key ideas from Coleford's own Robert Forester Mushet, a key figure in the development of specialised steel alloys at Darkhill, Coleford.

(Apologies to any bona-fide steelworkers reading this, most of the above is what I recall from college studies 30 years ago, so I may well be "rusty" on a few points).

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Thanks for the info. It explains a little more about my GGG Grandfather John Morgan. I had often wondered what he was quarrying for and am confident his death was a result of industrial pollution which fits in well with this background.

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Hi Carole, glad to help a little re John Morgan's life.
do you have any questions specifically regarding his death, perhaps we can help further ? I cannot see an Inquest for him within this site's records, altho' this might have been mentioned in the old newspapers, have you searched them ?. That said, you know he had a lung condition, so you've probably already fully researched him. If possible and with respect to your privacy if you wish, it would be interesting to know how you knew of his condition, is this from family knowledge or have you seen it mentioned on Records, if so I wonder which ones, please ?.

From your posts it seems John lived into his 60s, which to be honest in those times would be considered a fairly long life, particularly if he's spent it in hard physical work such as quarrying, even without any exposure to dust. My dad died "young" after leading a very healthy lifestyle and not having physical jobs, sadly this didn't stop him falling victim to an unforeseen brain tumour. At the time, 1991, we thought this was too young, but visiting him at Cinderford cemetery has shown his death at 67 was almost typical of men of his generation he now lies with, many of which were miners, smokers, etc. So just maybe your John didn't have as short a life as you might think, I do hope that until then he had enjoyed good health.
But yes, of course quarry work especially blasting or cutting could mean regular exposure to excess mineral dust hence possible silicosis etc, like the miners; it's definitely no coincidence that this British site contains a photo of a quarryman and not other occupations.
http://www.agius.com/hew/resource/lung.htm

BTW, my dad's dad was a collier in Lydbrook, I'm told he spent the last years of his life at home downstairs, his bad lungs prevented him climbing the stairs, which is partly why my Gran was determined their only son wouldn't follow him down the pit. Yet he outlived my Dad, albeit only by one year, which on paper seem's better until you realise his quality of life was far worse in later years. Perhaps my Grandad'parents knew your Morgans, they lived in the Reddings and Moorwood too.

I hope the above is of interest and even help understanding John's life,
good luck with your continued researches, Jeff.

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Hi there, Sorry I have been so long replying. I couldn't find John Morgan's death certificate. Have now been successful. He died in 1881, aged 61. The certificate states he was suffering from bronchitis and had been for 2 years, asphyxia and general anasarca. He probably had heart problems but I think the conditions combined fit in very well with a life quarrying limestone.
You could also argue they fit in with starving to death as well but I prefer the idea of the congested lungs!

He seems to have been living in Joys Green when he died. He was brought up in Moorwood along with his wife Hester.

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Hi again Carole, apologies not necessary at all, it's the taking part that counts here, not the "winning", just glad to hear from you again. In fact it's me who must apologise.
What a fool I am, I completely forgot about the likelihood of the death certificate carrying such details... Yes you're right, John must have had a rough last few years; sorry for thinking it may not have been so, but some researchers assume modern-day living conditions, foolishly I forgot who I was talking to, sorry.
To be honest given the standards of the time re living conditions, diet and available healthcare, I'm often amazed how people would still be working in the pits and quarries into their sixties, so very tough. Furthermore, as you know wives would then be widowed so finding themselves having to work hard, charring etc etc; I do hope John's wife Hester had a reasonable life after John died, hopefully ably supported by their offspring.
Yours J

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Post updated as more information available.

Moorwood is on the very edge of the limestone boundary with mudstones and sandstones so it depends on where the quarry was as to what type of rock was being quarried. North and west of Moorwood would be limestone. South and east would be sandstone.

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Just found that the BGS has on-line maps. You can find Moorwood at http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html?lat=51.849340&long=-2.5715196

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Thank you for this link. It is far handier than the cumbersome charts from which this valuable tool was created.
It shows just how complex the geology was in the parish of Ruardean and suggests that at least two (Hawkwell
and Aston Bridge ) of my 1793 quarries were harvesting sandstone. 'Cinder Wholes' aka Cinderhill? may have been
limestone but its location is still in question.
This Geology of Britain gem will be a valuable asset when we set out to explore this landscape later this year.

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Thanks for bring your obvious expertise to this query, really appreciated. Also for confirming why it took me so long to try and get my head around, then only roughly of course; as you say it's quite a mixture of rock types in this area.
That map's great, I did find some others but nothing that clear, a great find ! It's key shows just what a difficult subject geology must be to study, at least if your memory is as porous as mine, so thanks again, J.

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Thanks for bring your obvious expertise to this query,

Not an expert, wish I was as I've always had an interest in the geology. I did do a college project on the subject when I was at Gloucester Tech about 35 years ago and I still have the geological maps.

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