It is a small village to the west of Cinderford. Situated on a hillside with commanding views west towards the mountains of South Wales. Little now remains of the village's industrial history, but once it was a centre for iron ore smelting furnaces, forges and coal mines. There is the remains of a Norman castle, now little more than a mound , which commanded the shortest route from Gloucester to the Welsh Marches and the Wye valley. The 1831 census for Ruardean shows just 127 families, half employed in agriculture and half in other trades, with 160 people on poor relief, showing the obvious poverty in the area at the time.

The first school was established in 1774, and by 1833 it provided 43 places. In addition to the impressive church, a chapel was built in 1798, and from 1801 to 1861 it was under the charge of rev. John Horlick. The Horlick family, notably James and William became famous for the method of producing dried milk with added malt - later to become world famous. The original malting shed still stands in Ruardean, a small stone building behind the Malt Shovel public house, although it may shortly be removed and rebuilt on a different site in the village.

From the Forest of Dean Community website http://www.fweb.org.uk/