Coleford

COLEFORD, a hamlet, in the parish and hundred of Kilmersdon, E. division of Somerset, 6¼ miles (W. by N.) from Frome; containing 825 inhabitants. A market was anciently held here, which has been long discontinued, and the fair of Coleford, which was much frequented, is now almost entirely disused. A coal-mine near the church, the most southern in the coal-basin of the district, yields chiefly small coal. This place, with the neighbouring hamlets of Lypeat and Kilmersdon, was constituted a chapelry in 1831, when a chapel was erected: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Kilmersdon; net income, £120. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Independents; and a school in connexion with the National Society, erected by subscription in 1835. Some remains exist of an ancient church, consisting of the chancel and part of the nave, near the present chapel; and in the village are the ruins of a turret with a stone staircase, and piscina.