The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland, 1868 describes the following - CINDERFORD, a parish, village and post town in the liberty of Dean Forest, in the county of Gloucester, 3 miles W. of Newnham. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £750, in the patronage of the crown. The church is dedicated to St. John. The Wesleyans and Baptists have each a place of worship.

Cinderford is named after the numerous mounds of cinders left from early ironmaking in the area. The town proper developed in the late 1700's when an ironworks was built and the large iron and coal mines were opened. Throughout the Victorian era there were numerous beerhouses and inns to supply the thirsty mines. By 1841 three furnaces were producing 12,000 tons of iron every year. The principal coal mines of the area inclded Lightmoor, Trafalgar and North United. Lightmoor was a major employer, supplying jobs to over 600 men in the 1930's. It closed in 1940.

Other smaller mines continued iproviding employment n the area until the 1960's. St John the Evangelist was built in 1843, while St Stephens was constructed in 1890. The largest Baptist Chapel in the whole Forest area was built in 1843, while the Primitive Methodists buit a chapel in Church Road, in 1865.

    Top Left - St Johns, Cinderford

    Top right - Wesley Road, Cinderford

    Left - Miners Welfare Hall, Cinderfod

    Bottom left - Baptist Chapel, Cinderford

    Below - Primitive Methodist Chapel, Cinderford