Granville Country Park | |
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Location | near Telford, Shropshire |
OS grid | SJ 715 128 |
Coordinates | 52°42′43″N2°25′24″W / 52.71194°N 2.42333°W |
Area | 24 hectares (59 acres) |
Operated by | Telford and Wrekin Council Shropshire Wildlife Trust Friends of Granville |
Designation | Local nature reserve |
Website | www |
Granville Country Park is a local nature reserve near Telford in Shropshire, England. It is owned by Telford and Wrekin Council, who work in partnership with the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Friends of Granville. [1] [2]
The reserve, area 24 hectares (59 acres), contains former industrial sites, since reclaimed by nature. There is woodland, meadows, a marsh and open water; former pit mounds are now grasslands and heath. These varied habitats support many species of plant, bird and insect. [3]
Muxton Marsh, within the reserve, is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. [4] Its area is 7.3 hectares (18 acres). The western end is an uncultivated meadow, with plant species including yellow rattle, meadow vetchling and marsh thistle. The eastern end is wetter, a habitat for rushes, sedges and marsh arrow-grass. The eastern part includes the slopes of a former pit mound, where there is now woodland with alder and willow at its foot by the marsh. [5]
The remains of blast furnaces, a tub boat canal and a winding engine house can be seen. [2]
The blast furnaces were the Old Lodge Furnaces, built by the Lilleshall Company, near an old hunting lodge that was demolished in 1820. They were in use from 1824 until 1888; they were demolished in 1905. Part of the brickwork of three of the furnaces remain. [6]
Telford is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern boundary, and near the River Severn. The notable hill near the town called The Wrekin is part of the Shropshire Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. To the south of the town is the Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Places around the Ironbridge Gorge area, which were developed into the town itself, are internationally recognised as being "The Birthplace of Industry" being to a large extent constructed during the Industrial Revolution on the Shropshire Coalfield. The town is the main adminstrative centre for Telford and Wrekin Council.
Donnington is a village in the parish of Donnington and Muxton in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. The population of Donnington Ward was 6,883 at the 2011 census.
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The Donnington Wood Canal was a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) private canal in East Shropshire, England, which ran from coal pits owned by Earl Gower at Donnington Wood to Pave Lane on the Wolverhampton to Newport Turnpike Road. It was completed in about 1767 and abandoned in 1904. The canal was part of a larger network of tub-boat canals, which were used for the transport of raw materials, particularly coal, limestone and ironstone, from the locations where they were mined to furnaces where the iron ore was processed. The canal was connected to the Wombridge Canal and the Shropshire Canal.
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