Coleford and the Forest of Dean
Coleford is a market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire. It lies two miles east of the Welsh border, close to the Wye Valley. Its built-up area had 5,020 residents at the 2021 census. The town is also the administrative centre of the Forest of Dean district.
The settlement grew up at a ford, probably used to carry charcoal and iron ore. By the mid-fourteenth century, small hamlets called Coleford and Whitecliff had formed. Although the settlement is old, its market only began in 1642, during the Civil War.
Iron, coal and stone
Iron production here dates back to the Middle Ages. For instance, a furnace was working at Whitecliff in 1361. Coal mining to the north and east of the town dates from the sixteenth century. Meanwhile, quarries at Whitecliff produced limestone, and lime kilns there supplied much of Monmouthshire.
In 1798, work began on Whitecliff Ironworks on the south-western edge of the town. The metallurgist David Mushet was brought in to improve it, but the works stayed unprofitable. Its ruins are now open to the public.
The town centre
Most of the older houses were rebuilt in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Old White Hart Inn in the market place dates from the seventeenth century. The old church came down in 1882, although its tower survives as a clock tower. Later, the council removed the town hall in 1968 to ease traffic in the market place.
The town then grew in stages through the twentieth century, through both council and private building. Today, the Ribena and Lucozade factory is a large employer, and SPP Pumps has its main UK site here.
What an installation here tends to involve
Coleford mixes an older centre with twentieth-century housing further out. Because wall type and plot size vary, the survey is where the right spot for an outdoor unit gets settled. A detached home set back from the road may need a longer pipe run between the indoor and outdoor units. If your home is listed, the permitted development rules will not cover the unit, so read them before work starts.
Beyond that, a job here follows the same steps as anywhere else. That means correct sizing for the room, a sensible pipe route and safe handling of refrigerant. UK rules require anyone who installs air conditioning to hold an F-gas certificate, so it is fair to ask to see it. For the general process, see our air conditioning installation page.
Getting there from Gloucester
Coleford lies about 20.4 miles by road from Gloucester, around 35 minutes’ drive. In a straight line, the gap is about 16.9 miles. The nearest railway station is at Lydney, eight miles away. In addition, a regular bus service links the town with Cinderford and Gloucester.
Cinderford, on the eastern fringe of the Forest, has its own page for Cinderford air conditioning installation. Lydney has the area’s nearest station. Home cooling installs around Lydney and air conditioning installation in Gloucester each have their own page.
Getting matched in Coleford
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