The Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron is one of ten

Ironbridge Gorge Museums 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 ...

administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. The museum is based in the village of

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 ...

in 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 ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

Museum

The museum is open to the public Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays. On display are: * the remains of the revolutionary water powered blast furnace known as the Old Furnace * displays of domestic and decorative ironwork. * the Boy and Swan Fountain cast by 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 ...

for the Great Exhibition of 1851 * the Deerhound Table designed by sculptor John Bell for the

Paris International Exhibition of 1855 The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Élysées in Paris from 15 May to 15 November 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des B ...

* cast-iron Coalbrookdale Cooking Pots that introduced Abraham Darby I to the iron trade. The Coalbrookdale site is also home to

Enginuity Enginuity is an interactive design and technology centre in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England. It is the newest of the ten museums operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage ...

, an interactive design and technology centre and

Darby Houses The Darby Houses museum is one of ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. It is based in the village of Coalbrookdale in the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire, England within a World Heritage Site, the birt ...

are on a nearby road.

The Old Furnace

The Old Furnace is where Abraham Darby I perfected the smelting of iron with coke instead of charcoal. In 1959 Allied Ironfounders, successors to the Coalbrookdale Company, had the Old Furnace site excavated to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Darby's first coke smelting. This led to a small Coalbrookdale Museum, which in 1970 became part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust as the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron. It is a Grade I listed structure. The Old Furnace was in 2014 the 100th recipient of the

Engineering Heritage Award The Engineering Heritage Awards, formally known as the ''Engineering Heritage Hallmark Scheme'', were established by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) in 1984 to identify and promote artefacts, locations, collections and landmarks o ...

given by the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

References

External links

Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron
{{Ironbridge Gorge Museums Museum of iron Museums in Shropshire Industry museums in England History of Shropshire Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust Cast iron Industrial Revolution in England Industrial archaeological sites in England