The Darby Houses museum is one of 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 ...

. It 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, 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 ...

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 ...

. The Darby Houses comprise the adjacent properties of Dale House and Rosehill, both of which were built for members of the Darby family in Darby Road, Coalbrookdale.

Dale House

Dale House was originally built in 1717 for

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 ...

and looks out over the Upper Furnace Pool whose outflow powered the blast furnace. His son

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 ...

married

Abiah Darby Abiah Darby (born Abiah Maude; 1716–1794) was an English minister in the Quaker church based in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. She was also the wife of the iron industrialist Abraham Darby. Abiah kept a journal and she sent letters which recorded ...

and they had several children.Nancy Cox, ‘Darby , Abiah (1716–1794)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 25 September 2015
/ref> Abraham and Abiah moved to their new house, Sunniside, in 1750. Dale House was enlarged by subsequent generations: in 1776 Abraham Darby III converted the attic into a third floor. During the 20th century it was converted into flats, which undermined the true character of the house, but has since been restored as much as possible to its 18th-century appearance. It is a Grade II listed building.

Rosehill

Rosehill was built in about 1738 for

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...

, who married Abraham Darby I's eldest daughter, Mary. Richard was Clerk to the Coalbrookdale Company under Abraham I and later Manager of the Coalbrookdale Ironworks. In the mid 19th century the house was occupied by Abraham Darby III's youngest son Richard and his wife Maria and after his death by his daughter Rebecca until 1908. The house has been restored from an uninhabitable condition by architect

Graham Winteringham Graham Winteringham (born 2 March 1923) is an English architect who was born in Louth, Lincolnshire. Winteringham's work has consisted of public buildings and the restoration of historic buildings. Early life He studied at Birmingham School of Ar ...

and refurnished to recreate its 1850 appearance. Rosehill is also a Grade II listed building.

References

External links

Official web site
Coalbrookdale Historic house museums in Shropshire History of Shropshire Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust {{UK-museum-stub