Parkend Ironworks now Dean Field Study Centre (near the crossroads) This impressive building is now owned by Bristol City Education Authority and is used by visiting schoolchildren from that city. It was the original engine house of the ironworks which was later converted by the Forestry Commission into a Forestry School whose students came from across the world to study. The coke furnace at the Ironworks had a 15m (50 ft) waterwheel and two of the storage ponds to power the wheel have since been turned into a local beauty spot - Cannop Ponds.
St Paul’s Church This octagonal shaped parish church was built in 1822 and is dedicated to St Paul. The history of all villagers who served in the First World War was completed in 2018 and now is displayed in the church. Although not in the centre of the village it was built as the centre of the surrounding villages which it served.
Memorial Hall This was previously the warehouse of Mrs Sheward who ran the sweet shop next door. She donated it to the village in 1919 in memory of those killed in the First World War. The names of all Parkend villagers who served in the war are inscribed to the left hand side of the main doors and those lost in the Second World War on the right.
Parkend Primary School, built in 1822, was demolished and then rebuilt in 1845 after large cracks appeared from the nearby mining works. There are impressive stone gate posts and a Gothic style window frame, which has been replaced several times during the history of the school. It is sitauted at the edge of the village because it also served surrounding villages.
Public Houses There are two public houses in the village and The Rising Sun which is a short walk through the forest to Moseley Green.
- The Fountain Inn
- The Woodman Inn (previously The New Inn)
Darkhill Ironworks, and the neighbouring Titanic Steelworks, are internationally important industrial remains associated with the development of the iron and steel industries. They are located on the edge of a small hamlet called Gorsty Knoll, just to the west of Parkend and are open to the public.
Nagshead (RSPB) This mature oak woodland throngs with birds all-year round. See pied flycatchers and redstarts in the spring, all three British woodpecker species in summer, nuthatches in the autumn and goshawks and treecreepers during the winter. This is recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Mary Rose Young Pottery- Mary Rose Young is a pottery artist living and working in Parkend. She and her team make her “Alice in Wonderland” pottery which is sent to shops and collectors around the world. Upstairs from her Forest studio/home at Oak House,The Folly, is a gallery where you can find a definitive collection of her work.
