Jackfield Tile Museum is a museum which presents the history of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

decorative tile industry between 1840 and 1960, the period in which this factory and that of

Maw & Co Maw & Co have made earthenware encaustic tiles for walls and floors since 1850, when the English company was established by George Maw and his brother Arthur. Their first factory was in Worcester and in 1862 the company moved to Broseley, Shrop ...

nearby played an important part in this industry. The museum lies in the village of

Jackfield Jackfield is a village in Shropshire, England, lying on the south bank of River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, downstream from Ironbridge. Like many of the settlements in the area, it is notable for its place in the Industrial Revolution. Hi ...

, near

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 ...

, on the south bank of 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 ...

in the Ironbridge Gorge, in

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located within a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, the birthplace of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. It is one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge museums administered 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 ...

The museum is housed in a decorative

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 ...

factory building, the former works of

Craven Dunnill Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd. (formerly Hargreaves & Craven, then Hargreaves, Craven Dunnill & Co.) was formed on 9 February 1872, by Yorkshire businessman Henry Powell Dunnill (1821–95), at Jackfield, Shropshire, England. The firm was to become on ...

and Company, that is still used to produce tiles, particularly

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s. Jackfield is one of the oldest known ceramic production centres in Shropshire, a tradition dating back to the 16th century. The Thursfield family settled in Jackfield during the early 18th century; Jackfield wares are attributed to the family. Craven Dunnill gave up its Jackfield works in the early 1950s, moving to

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

, and the buildings were used by a firm making iron and bronze castings. In 1983, the

purchased the works with the aid of an

Architectural Heritage Fund The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) is a registered charity (No. 266780) founded in 1976 to promote the conservation and re-use of historic buildings across the United Kingdom. As the leading social investor in the UK for over 40 years, it provid ...

grant. In 1989, tile manufacture restarted on the site and in 2001 Craven Dunnill took over this business again. Tiled period setting at Jackfield Tile Museum

Tiled period setting at Jackfield Tile Museum

The collections include

William De Morgan William Frend De Morgan (16 November 1839 – 15 January 1917) was an English potter, tile designer and novelist. A lifelong friend of William Morris, he designed tiles, stained glass and furniture for Morris & Co. from 1863 to 1872. His tiles ...

and other historic tilers.

References

External links

Jackfield Tile Museum website

Shropshire Tourism information

Virtual Shropshire information
Museums in Shropshire Industry museums in England Decorative arts museums in England History of Shropshire Ironbridge Gorge Ceramics museums in the United Kingdom Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Tiling Grade II* listed buildings in Shropshire Industrial archaeological sites in England {{UK-museum-stub

See also

References

External links