Littledean, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England

Littledean is the ancestral home of parts of the Wynn family, who are directly linked to me via marriage on my Mother's side of the family.

Littledean is one of the ancient villages of the Forest of Dean, was once the site of a market and was a centre of ironworking and metal trades.

Situated a mile east of the town of Cinderford, it contains many old buildings dating back to the 1600s, and some even earlier.

Boundaries
As defined in 1878, the ancient parish which was one of the smallest in rural Gloucestershire, contained 495 acres and was very irregular in shape, as can be seen from the map.

Bounded by the Forest of Dean to the north, by detached parts of Flaxley and Newland elsewhere, and on the south, beyond Dean Hill, a peninsula of Littledean to the west of Newnham touched the Forest at Blaize Bailey.

On Dean Hill, the parish included a small area which as late as 1863 had been a detached part of the Forest.

Littledean's boundaries followed a straight ridgeway on Littledean Hill to the west and ancient tracks in places elsewhere.

Littledean Camp & Castle
Littledean's eastern boundary with part of Flaxley took in Littledean Camp, once thought to be an Iron Age hill fort and later the site of Littledean Caste.

20th-century archaeology has proven that the castle was built in the 11th century following the Norman invasion of 1066. The castle is circular just 60ft in diameter, with an inner and an outer bailey, the latter protected by a very tall vallum wall. The outer wall has surviving earthworks 12ft high; originally it would have been 15ft tall. Uniquely for a castle of this period, the outer wall has a motte integrated into the design, rather than located at the centre of the castle; this was probably designed to act as a combination of look-out tower and keep. The entrance to the castle was from the south. The castle was one of a number built along the Severn & Wye valleys, to protect England from the (at that time) warring Welsh.

Littledean Hall
Littledean Hall is one of these ancient buildings, and it is reputed to be one of the most haunted houses in England.