Old Furnace

My ancestor, Mary Ann TURLEY, was born in Old Furnace in 1875. What or where was this please?
Lyndar

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photograph in this FOD site - Furnace Bottom in Blakeney

Enumerator's notes - abbbreviated 1881 census, WOS - District 24

'.... including part of Blakeney Hill, part of Gibralter, Old Furnace Bottom, Viney Hill, Pigeon Green and Houses by Hornbeach?

1881 Census

Richard TURLEY - 32 - Stone Cutter
Emily - 30
Ross Ann - 12
Mary - 6
Richrd 3

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Could anyone explain the naming of the area as Gibraltar? Is there any connection with the naming of this place and Vice Admiral Rooke who took Gibraltar for the British in the late 1600s and who had an estate in the Forest of Dean? Though there is much about Vice Admiral Rooke on the Internet e.g. about the battles he was in and his early life I would be interested to hear if anyone knows much about him in terms of his connections with the Forest of Dean and whether any of his family remained in the area? My family is called Rook/Rooke and though I can make no direct connection (mine seem to be humble in comparison but I don't know back as far as 1600s and people's fortunes can change) there seem to be a number of interesting coincidences, e.g. possible connection with Bordeaux (where he also had an estate); possibly he or other members of his family were recusants; possible connections with the State of New York ... I've known about Vice Admiral Rooke for a while and have already Googled him and looked into what's available on him in general but there's only reference to his connections with the Forest of Dean and not the detail I would like.

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Its possible, and of course Gibraltar was also a stone quarry.....

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

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Thanks for this, I have recently met a relative who lives on the other side of the world who was interested to hear about this Rooke and then I saw the reference to Gibraltar here! Presumably the stone quarry would resemble The Rock of Gibraltar but it would be interesting to hear how it was given the name and why.

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http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=5850

http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&...

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

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Many of the cottages and gardens in Blakeney walk in 1752 (fn. 69) were presumably at Blakeney Hill, at the south-east corner of the Forest, on a steep hillside above Blakeney village. (fn. 70) The hill, on which 34 cottages were recorded in 1782, (fn. 71) has been extensively quarried and the east side was known as Gibralter in the early 19th century. (fn. 72) Many of the early cottages were on the south- west side in the Blackpool brook valley, (fn. 73) the floor of which was known as Old Furnace bottom from early ironworks. (fn. 74) By 1834 there were c. 80 cottages, including one dated 1830, on the hill and in the valley, (fn. 75) and later there was much new building and rebuilding there, typical cottages being dated 1848 and 1850. On the south-west side of the hill, which became known as Blakeney Woodside, some houses and bungalows were built in the later 19th and the 20th centuries on the Blakeney-Coleford road, constructed along the valley in 1841. (fn. 76) A school was provided, at Blakeney Woodside, in 1851 (fn. 77) and a nonconformist chapel, in a prominent position at the top of the hill, in 1874. (fn. 78)

From: 'Forest of Dean: Settlement', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 300-325. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23266 Date accessed: 29 July 2010.

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