A History of the Ironbrid2e Gorse Area

THE HISTORY OF THE IRONBRIDGE GORGE T1

Ironbridge, and the surrounding area is one of the countries most interesting destinations for geographers, historians, geologists, and tourists.

THE INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE Between 1715 and 1900 the exploitation of coal, iron ore, limestone and clay made the settlement in the lronbridge gorge , then called Coalbrookdale, a flourishing industrial community. Coal had been mined since the 1500’s, & by 1660, 100,000 tons were being carried down the river Severn. The river was a major locational factor in the development of industry in the area, despite the difficulties of navigation caused by the rapids and low water in summer and the floods in winter. By the middle of the 18th century the concentration of manufacturing industry on the coalfields was a common feature. Entrepreneur engineers with great ingenuity and technological innovation worked in this area and names such as Abraham Darby, Thomas Telford, Josiah Wedgwood, James Watt, and John McAdam had contacts with Ironbridge and further aided its growth.

In 1708 Darby built the blast furnaces which revolutionized the iron industry by using coke to smelt iron ore instead of the traditional charcoal. Coalbrookdale ironworks increased in importance, the number of furnaces grew, manufacturing domestic goods, architectural ironwork, railway wheels and steam engine cylinders. The banks of the river Severn were crowded with wharves, warehouse and approach roads. In the 1790’s William Reynolds developed what amounted to a new town, taking responsibility for roads, housing and encouraging the growth of new industries like china making, boat building and porcelain manufacture. Bulk goods could be transported using shallow draft boats called trows. With the opening of the first iron bridge in 1781, lronbridge began attracting visitors. A typical traveler would stay at the Tontine Hotel. visit the coke and tar ovens, ride on the Hay inclined plane and walk the “Sabath Walks” decorated with shrubs and rustic seats, culminating in the Rotunda, a cast iron bandstand like construction giving extensive views of the Severn valley. Many visitors came from abroad, including industrial spies, to see this birthplace of industry. After 1810 the iron industry suffered a relative decline as production increased in South Wales and the Black Country ( West Midlands ) and the area lost it’s reputation for innovation. By 1850 Coalbrookdale had become important for it’s ornamental castings but the large scale manufacture of decorative tiles began, compensating for the decline in the iron industry.

Many people in the late19th and early 20th century viewed Ironbridge as a place, “noticeable for dirt and disorder, made up of old pit shafts, pit mounds, rubbish heaps of brick ends, broken drains, roof and paving tiles, dilapidated houses, sloughy lanes and miry roads.” The area suffered from industrial inertia, manufacturing continued despite the fact that the original locational reasons ( raw materials, transport, skills ) had gone. Industry revived in the war years but then the decline set in and increased with the building of Telford New Town in the 1960’s. In 1959 the old furnace at Coalbrookdale was uncovered and a small museum built. A rebirth of interest was shown in the area. concerned with preserving for the future the monuments of the Industrial Revolution. In 1986 UNESCO designated Ironbridge a World Heritage Site and today 9 museums spread over 6 square miles maintained by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

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