![Blists Hill Bank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Blists_Hill_Bank.jpg)
Blists Hill Victorian Town is an
open-air museum
An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum.
Definition
Open air is “the unconfined atmosphereâ ...
built on a former industrial complex located in the
Madeley area of
Telford
Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a
Victorian Shropshire town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is one of ten museums operated by the
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages multiple historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of ...
.
Originally Blists Hill was an industrial region consisting of a brick and tile works, blast furnaces and coal, iron and fire clay mines. The museum was opened in 1973 and has been growing ever since. The museum's buildings fall into one of three categories, buildings that were already part of the industrial site, buildings that represent a generic type and original buildings that have been relocated to the museum.
The museum has three districts, a town area with Victorian era shops such as a bank, bakery, bicycle shop and post office. An industrial district that provided various employment from a blast furnace and wrought iron works and a countryside district with buildings such as a squatters cottage and tin roof church. The museum has been used as a venue for various TV and film programmes including
Doctor Who and
Blue Peter.
History of the site
![Reconstructed colliery, Blists Hill - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Reconstructed_colliery%2C_Blists_Hill_-_geograph.org.uk_-_260289.jpg)
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Blists Hill was an industrial region consisting of a brick and
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
works,
blast furnaces and coal, iron and
fire clay
Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines fire clay very generally as a "mineral aggregate composed of hydrous silicates of alumi ...
mines operated by the
Madeley Wood Company
The Madeley Wood Company was formed in 1756 when the Madeley Wood Furnaces, also called Bedlam Furnaces, were built beside the River Severn, one mile west of Blists Hill.
Bedlam Furnaces
The Madeley Wood Furnaces or Bedlam Furnaces were own ...
. A short section of the
Shropshire Canal
The Shropshire Canal was a tub boat canal built to supply coal, ore and limestone to the industrial region of east Shropshire, England, that adjoined the River Severn at Coalbrookdale. It ran from a junction with the Donnington Wood Canal ascend ...
ran across the site to the
Hay Inclined Plane
The Hay Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, with a height of . It was located at the end of the Shropshire Canal, part of a network of canals that linked the industrial region of east Shropshire wit ...
, which transported boats up and down the tall incline from Blists Hill to
Coalport
Coalport is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located on the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield.
The settlement wa ...
.
Open-air museum
Introduction
Blists Hill Victorian Town, originally called Blists Hill Open Air Museum, was opened in 1973, and has been slowly growing ever since. The museum's buildings fall into one of three categories: buildings that were already part of the industrial site (''e.g.'' the
brickworks
A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...
); buildings that simply represent a generic type (''e.g.'' the sweet shop), some adaptively reusing existing premises on site or being
replicas of those still standing elsewhere; and original buildings that have been
relocated to the museum (''e.g.'' The New Inn
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
, which originally stood between Green Lane and Hospital Street in
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
).
Each building is staffed by one or more costumed demonstrators, who have been trained in the skills and history of the profession they re-enact. For example, in the printshop, visitors can watch posters and newssheets being printed. The demonstrators normally talk in the third person, referring to the Victorians as "they" or "them" (rather than in the first person "I" or "we" which some similar museums employ): the museum management believes that this allows greater scope for comparing modern techniques with those re-enacted at the museum. Staff may also be seen performing such diverse tasks as operating stationary
steam engines, iron founding and mucking out pigs.
![Ironbridge Penny](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Ironbridge_Penny.jpg)
The first building visitors see in the museum is the bank (modelled on the still-standing
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
branch in
Broseley
Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...
), at which they can change modern coinage into token coinage that represents the predecimal
farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
* Farthing (English ...
s,
halfpennies,
pennies
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...
,
threepenny bits and
sixpences, at an exchange rate of 40 new pence to 1 old penny. They can then use the token coins as an alternative to modern currency for buying goods whilst visiting the museum (the gift shop at the museum entrance operates only in modern currency).
Town area
The High Street area of the Upper Town has been developed around a
London and North Western Railway interchange
siding with a
plateway
A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later.
Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange ...
which is an original feature of the site. Shops erected on the site include a
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chÄ“m(Ãa)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
(with fittings from
Bournemouth), butcher (from
Ironbridge
Ironbridge is a large village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, a ...
), grocer (replica of a building from
Oakengates
Oakengates is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The towns parish population was recorded as 8,517 in the 2001 census.
Etymology
The name is not derived from "oak" or "gates" but is derived from the ...
), and printer (with equipment from
Kington, Herefordshire
Kington is a market town, electoral ward and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the Parish, the ward had a population of 3,240, while the 2011 Census registered a population of 2,626.
Geography
Kington is from the border w ...
). Small crafts include an iron
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
, a shoeing
smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
, bootmaker,
locksmith, decorative
plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been ...
(with equipment from
Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...
),
builder, and
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
.
Premises in Quarry Bank include a
tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, includ ...
candle
A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time.
A person who makes candle ...
manufactory (from
Madeley), a bakery (from
Dawley
Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford ...
), a physician's surgery (in a
Sutherland Estate cottage from
Donnington), and a
Board School
School boards were public bodies in England and Wales between 1870 and 1902, which established and administered elementary schools.
School boards were created in boroughs and parishes under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaigni ...
(from
Stirchley).
Recent new developments have included the addition of 'Canal Street', which was a new build closely modelled on extant and historic buildings in the Telford area. This area includes a new Fish and Chip Shop, Drapers shop and Post Office, as well as an enlarged Sweet Shop. A walkway is located at the end of Canal Street, which leads visitors to the ruins of the brick and tile works. Adjacent to the ruins, and on select days, an operational replica of a steam locomotive designed and built by
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...
in 1802 runs on a short segment of
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
track. The original locomotive was the world's first steam locomotive on rails and was commissioned by the
Coalbrookdale Company, which was located nearby (however, no record exists of this locomotive ever being successfully run). In 2015, the Trevithick Shed was built to house the locomotive when not in use.
Ironworks area
![Blast furnaces at Blists Hill - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Blast_furnaces_at_Blists_Hill_-_geograph.org.uk_-_571055.jpg)
The original
Madeley Wood Company
The Madeley Wood Company was formed in 1756 when the Madeley Wood Furnaces, also called Bedlam Furnaces, were built beside the River Severn, one mile west of Blists Hill.
Bedlam Furnaces
The Madeley Wood Furnaces or Bedlam Furnaces were own ...
blast furnaces produced
pig iron from 1832 to 1911. Their remains have been conserved and a
blowing engine
A blowing engine is a large stationary steam engine or internal combustion engine directly coupled to air pumping cylinders. They deliver a very large quantity of air at a pressure lower than an air compressor, but greater than a centrifugal fan. ...
from the
Lilleshall Company
The Lilleshall Company was a large engineering company in Oakengates Shropshire founded in 1802. Its operations included mechanical engineering, coal mining, iron and steel making and brickworks. The company was noted for its winding, pumping an ...
’s
Priorslee Ironworks installed in one of the houses. Nearby are displayed a pair of
beam engines from the same location, alongside a
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
works using equipment from
Thomas Walmsley's Atlas Forge in
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...
in an iron-framed building designed by
Rennie for
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich in north-west Kent, where many ships were built from the early 16th century until th ...
.
Countryside area
The more remote parts of the site demonstrate natural recolonisation of an industrial landscape. Amongst buildings re-erected in this area are a
corrugated iron
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a ...
tin tabernacle
A tin tabernacle, also known as an iron church, is a type of prefabricated ecclesiastical building made from corrugated galvanised iron. They were developed in the mid-19th century initially in the United Kingdom. Corrugated iron was first us ...
, (St Chad's Mission Church from Lodge Bank), a
squatter cottage (from
Dawley
Dawley ( ) is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It was originally, in 1963, going to be the main centre of the 'Dawley New Town' plan before it was decided in 1968 to name the new town as 'Telford ...
), and a
toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge.
History
Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th an ...
(designed by
Telford
Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...
for the
Holyhead Road at
Shelton Shelton may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
* Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire
* Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
* Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bed ...
).
New developments
In 2009 a £12 million programme of redevelopment was completed which included the previously discussed buildings on Canal Street, a new World Heritage Visitor Centre, a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Mine Railway, and a Inclined Lift. The mine railway is intended to represent a 1920s clay mine, although the rolling stock is modern and the mine is formed by a concrete bunker. The inclined lift is entirely modern, and enables visitors with restricted mobility to access the lower part of the site. The project did not fund the restoration of the Scheduled Ancient Monuments and associated archaeological features on the site.
Hay inclined plane
![HayInclinedPlane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/HayInclinedPlane.jpg)
The Hay Inclined Plane is a
canal inclined plane
An inclined plane is a type of cable railway used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings.
History
Inclined planes have evolved over the ...
with a height of 207 feet that is located on a short stretch of the
Shropshire Canal
The Shropshire Canal was a tub boat canal built to supply coal, ore and limestone to the industrial region of east Shropshire, England, that adjoined the River Severn at Coalbrookdale. It ran from a junction with the Donnington Wood Canal ascend ...
that linked the industrial area of
Blists Hill with the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
. The inclined plane was in operation from 1792 to 1894 and can be visited as part of the Blists Hill Victorian Town and is also a waypoint on the
South Telford Heritage Trail. In operation box-shaped
tub boat
A tub boat was a type of unpowered cargo boat used on a number of the early English and German canals. The English boats were typically long and wide and generally carried to of cargo, though some extra deep ones could carry up to . They a ...
s 20 feet long were taken up and down the plane on twin railway tracks, an empty boat would be loaded into the river at the bottom and a full boat would be loaded into the canal at the top, a rope would connect the two so that gravity would drop the loaded boat down to the river counterbalanced by an empty boat being raised to the canal. At the bottom of the incline the rails went underwater allowing the boats to float free.
Filming location
Blists Hill has been used as a filming location on several occasions. In 1979, the children's television series ''
Blue Peter'' included an item shot at the museum. The director of the piece subsequently chose it to be the principal filming location for the 1985 ''
Doctor Who'' serial ''
The Mark of the Rani
''The Mark of The Rani'' is the third serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 on 2 and 9 February 1985.
The serial is set in the mining vi ...
''. The 1995 film ''
Feast of July
''Feast of July'' is a 1995 American-British neo noir crime film directed by Christopher Menaul and produced by Merchant Ivory Productions, based on the 1954 novel by H. E. Bates, starring Embeth Davidtz and Ben Chaplin.
Plot
The movie opens with ...
'' was shot at Blists Hill. An episode of ''
Antiques Roadshow
''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...
'' was filmed at the location in September 2009. In 2010, ''
Victorian Pharmacy
''Victorian Pharmacy'' is a historical documentary TV series in four parts, first shown on BBC Two in July 2010. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television. The series producer was Cassie Braben and the Executive P ...
'', which was a historical documentary looking at life in the 19th century, used Blists Hill to recreate the scene at an everyday pharmacy.
See also
*
Beamish Museum
*
Living museum
A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recrea ...
References
*
*
*
External links
Blists Hill Victorian TownShropshire tourism informationArchaeology in the Ironbridge Gorge
{{Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Telford
Museums in Shropshire
Living museums in England
Open-air museums in England
Preserved beam engines
Preserved stationary steam engines
Ironbridge Gorge
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
Blast furnaces in England