Horsehay is a suburban village on the western outskirts of

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 ...

, which, along with several other towns and villages, now forms part of the

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

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 th ...

, England. Horsehay lies in the

Dawley Hamlets Dawley Hamlets is a civil parish in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The parish covers Horsehay, Doseley, Little Dawley (also traditionally known as Dawley Parva) and Aqueduct. The name Dawley comes from Old English meaning ''woodland ...

parish, and on the northern edge of the

Ironbridge Gorge The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge, containing the River Severn in Shropshire, England. It was first formed by a glacial overflow from the long drained away Lake Lapworth, at the end of the last ice age. The deep exposure of the rocks cut t ...

area. Its name is

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

for 'an enclosure for horses'. Horsehay used to have four pubs, The Station Inn, The Forester Arms, the All Labour In Vain and the Travellers Joy, however The Station Inn closed down in 2012, and the All Labour In Vain closed in 2014. It also has a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Chapel, a village hall, a post office, and a golf course complete with restaurant.

History

Originally Horsehay was nothing more than a farm, until the 1750s when

Abraham Darby II Abraham Darby, in his lifetime called Abraham Darby the Younger, referred to for convenience as Abraham Darby II (12 May 1711 – 31 March 1763) was the second man of that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the early ...

built a blast furnace next to what is now known as Horsehay Pool. The

Coalbrookdale Company Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

further developed the area, constructing brickworks and later a pottery in 1838.

Coalbrookdale Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge. This is where iron ore was first s ...

specialised in the smaller and more decorative ironwork pieces, whereas Horsehay produced many larger scale products, including the railway bridge in nearby

Shifnal Shifnal is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of the county town of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of the city of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 mo ...

. As the iron trade in the area began to slump, in 1857 the railway arrived. Horsehay is still home to the

Telford Steam Railway The Telford Steam Railway (TSR) is a heritage railway located at Horsehay, Telford in Shropshire, England, formed in 1976. The railway is operated by volunteers on Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter to the end of September, and at Christmas. ...

to this day. A.B. Cranes bought the site previously occupied by the ironworks to manufacture some of the largest cranes in Europe until it closed down in 1983. The site has been transformed into both a small factory estate and a housing estate. The houses which were kept for the

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

employees were clustered around Horsehay Pool in Spring Village, and they are still lived in today.

Horsehay Works

Horsehay works has a history of more than 230 years on the same site. Formed in 1755 by Abraham Darby II it contributed to the birth of the industrial revolution through large scale production of iron. Later it produced pre-fabricated bridges for export all over the world. It was a major employer in the area until the mid-1980s when it closed under the ownership of Adamson Alliance. The following is based on an article "Horsehay Works (1755–1986) - a history of a once dominating company" by J. L. Woolley (local artist and former employee of Horsehay Works):

Abraham Darby I Abraham Darby, in his later life called Abraham Darby the Elder, now sometimes known for convenience as Abraham Darby I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and best known of several men of that name), was an English ironmaster and foundr ...

, a Quaker, succeeded in smelting iron with coke as a fuel suitable for forges in 1709. The Coalbrookdale Company needed additional furnaces and Horsehay (an easy walk to the north) provided a sufficient water supply and land for lease. In addition, Dawley (adjacent to the east) provided mines. The furnace at Horsehay came into blast successfully on 5 May 1755. For this venture, Darby II enlisted the financial help of

Thomas Goldney III The Goldney family were a wealthy English merchant trading family, most associated with Wiltshire and latterly Bristol. Later branches of the family became the Goldney baronets. Wiltshire The Goldney family made their monies as weavers and clot ...

(the main shareholder of the Coalbrookdale Company). The new furnace ushered in a period of great activity when the East Shropshire Coalfield, for a time, became the area of greatest production of iron then known. Such was the importance of the furnace that many people including dignitaries visited it. A railway from Horsehay to the nearby Severn wharves was built and the first waggon of 'pigs' (iron) was sent down Jiggers bank through Coalbrookdale and on to the wharves almost within sight of the Ironbridge (built later by

Abraham Darby III Abraham Darby III (24 April 1750 – 1789) was an English ironmaster and Quaker. He was the third man of that name in several generations of an English Quaker family that played a pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution. Life Abraham Darby wa ...

, completed in 1779).

Telford Horsehay Steam Trust

Horsehay Horsehay is a suburban village on the western outskirts of Dawley, which, along with several other towns and villages, now forms part of the new town of Telford in Shropshire, England. Horsehay lies in the Dawley Hamlets parish, and on the north ...

is home to the

. It holds various events throughout the year, including as of 2017, a 1940s weekend and a Polar Express experience at Christmas.

Famous residents

Horsehay was the birthplace of novelist

Edith Pargeter Edith Mary Pargeter (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her ''nom de plume'' Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translat ...

, who wrote the popular

Brother Cadfael Brother Cadfael is the main fictional character in a series of historical murder mysteries written between 1977 and 1994 by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters". The character of Cadfael himself is a Welsh Benedic ...

novels under the pen name "Ellis Peters". Country singer/songwriter,

Raymond Froggatt Raymond William Froggatt (born 13 November 1941) is an English songwriter and singer.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 159-160 Biography Froggatt (otherwise known as "Froggy") was born in Bordes ...

still lives and has his studio in the village. Television personality

Paul Hendy Paul Clifford Hendy (born 22 July 1966) is a British script-writer, novelist, director, producer and filmmaker. In his early career, he was a TV presenter hosting the BAFTA nominated ''Dear Mr Barker'' (BBC), '' Don’t Try This at Home'' (ITV), ...

used to live in one of the cottages round Horsehay Pool. Back in the early 19th century, a giant of a man called William Ball worked in the Horsehay Iron Works. At the time, he was the heaviest man in England, tipping the scales at 36 Stones. Following an eye injury, he finished work at the Iron Works and toured the country under the name of "John Bull".

References

*Heath, P
Horsehay
Retrieved 20 October 2005.

External links