Ruardean, Gloucestershire
Historical Description
Ruardean, a village and a parish in Gloucestershire, 2½ miles SE of Kerne Bridge station on the G.W.R., and 6 S of Ross. There is a post and money order office under Mitcheldean (R.S.O.); telegraph office, Drybrook. Acreage, 1630; population of the civil parish, 1284; of the ecclesiastical, 1028. There are ruins of an ancient castle. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol; net value, £150 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The church is partly Norman, and has a tower and handsome spire. It was restored in 1891. There are Congregational and Bible Christian chapels, and a parish council of nine members.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Gloucestershire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Ruardean St. John the Baptist | |
| Hundred | St. Briavells | |
| Poor Law union | Ross |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1540.
The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Baptist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Baptist, built in 1111, is an edifice of stone in the Norman and later styles, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, south aisle, south porch and a western tower with lofty spire and pinnacles, containing a clock and 8 bells; the west window displays much rich tracery and the chancel retains a piscina: the church was restored in 1873, 1890 and 1891, at a total cost of £2,970, and now affords sittings for 500 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
The Congregational chapel, founded in 1789, has 320 sittings.
Methodist
United Methodist Chapel
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Ruardean from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ruardean (St. John the Baptist))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Ruardean are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:
- Gloucester Citizen
- Gloucester Journal
- Gloucestershire Chronicle
- Gloucestershire Echo
- Cheltenham Chronicle
- Cheltenham Looker-On
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.