Coleford is a market town in the west of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, two miles (3 km) east of the Welsh border and close to the Wye Valley.

By the mid-14th century, hamlets called Coleford and Whitecliff had grown up in the valley of Thurstan's Brook.

At Coleford their progress was impeded by a troop of Parliamentarians under Colonel Berrowe, aided by a disorderly group of country people.

A skirmish ensued, in which the market-house was burnt and Major-General Lawday, who commanded the foot, and two other officers were shot dead from a window.

Colonel Brett was then put in command of the foot, Lord John Somerset continuing at the head of the horse.

The Royalists forced a passage through, after capturing Lieutenant-Colonel Winter, together with some other officers and soldiers, and so putting the Parliamentarians to flight.

Of the older surviving buildings in the market place, the Old White Hart Inn dates from the 17th century.

In the late 18th century and early 19th, the town expanded along its other streets and most of its older houses were rebuilt.

A much larger church, St John the Evangelist's, was built on a hillside overlooking the town.

Traffic congestion in the market place was eased by demolition of the town hall in 1968 and the introduction of a gyro system around the clock tower.

Some formed prominent mounds, which by the late 17th century were reworked to provide iron ore for the furnaces, which had become more efficient by then.

The medieval ironworks were moveable forges operating on the royal demesne woodland of the Forest of Dean.

Coleford was on the route of a tramway that opened in 1812 to link mines in the Forest with the River Wye at Redbrook and Monmouth.

Their prime location in the heart of the Forest make them popular with walkers and cyclists and the local council has made moves to encourage further visitors.

The large factory in the town, originally called Carters, then Beechams, then GlaxoSmithKline, is now owned by the Japanese firm Suntory.