Coleford Then & Now

Tour of the town
In this column start at the Market Place
and browse through.		 Others
The Market Place         . The Turnpikes
Newland Street The Railways
The High Street
St. John Street
Gloucester Road
Bank Street
Boxbush Road

The Market Place
We begin our tour of old Coleford with a very old photograph of the Old Market Hall in the mid 1800s. This building was demolished in 1866. Note the open area beneath the building, and the steps at the left hand end to gain access to the upper floor. (A similar market hall still exists at Ross-on-Wye). This building was not Coleford's first Market Hall. The previous one was burnt down on 20 February 1643 in a skirmish between the Royalist army and the Parliamentarian soldiers during the Civil War.

The large advertisement appears to read "Wells Royal Hipperdrome. Great Malvern. Novelties. Den Lions. [picture] The Procession, Horses & Carriages ......".

The Market Hall was sited in the Market Place, opposite the Angel Inn, (behind the hall in this photograph). The site was later used for the "new" Market Hall, which was itself demolished in the 1960's.

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Below : The Market Place in 1797, with the old chapel and the Market Hall. The chapel was demolished to make way for the new St.John's Church to be built in 1821. A coach has just departed from the Angel and is heading towards Monmouth. The building on the left was later converted to a wine shop.

Below: The wine shop on the corner of St. John Street and the Market Place. (This site is now occupied by Lloyds Bank). The sign above the windows reads "British Wine". The Angel Inn is on the left, and note the large beam over the road with the inn sign. The building facing in the distance is the King's Head.

Below: the same area as the photograph above right, but taken in the early 1920's. The Wine shop (still there in 1910) has been demolished and replaced by Lloyds bank. The "new" Market Hall is seen on the right. Note the motor bus, this appears to be one of Watts' Red & White buses.

Below: from a similar viewpoint, taken about 1960. Little has changed except for the style of transport. The double-decker bus awaits departure to Gloucester, it's route taking it via Mitcheldean and Longhope.

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The Lloyds Bank corner of the Market Place and St. John's Street in 1999.

More of the Market Place

Page design by Rod Neep
Forest Web 1999