Ironbridge Gorge

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Ironbridge Gorge
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Iron Bridge east side in February 2019.jpg
The Iron Bridge spanning the gorge
Location Ironbridge, United Kingdom
Criteria Cultural: i, ii, iv, vi
Reference 371
Inscription1986 (10th Session)
Area547.9 ha
Website www.ironbridge.org.uk
Coordinates 52°37′35″N2°28′22″W / 52.62639°N 2.47278°W / 52.62639; -2.47278
Shropshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire
United Kingdom relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Ironbridge Gorge (the United Kingdom)
The Ironbridge Gorge looking east towards the Iron Bridge Ironbridge-Gorge.jpg
The Ironbridge Gorge looking east towards the Iron Bridge

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 through by the gorge exposed commercial deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and fireclay, which enabled the rapid economic development of the area during the early Industrial Revolution. [1] [2]

Contents

Originally called the Severn Gorge, the gorge now takes its name from its famous Iron Bridge, the first iron bridge of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there. The bridge was built in 1779 to link the industrial town of Broseley with the smaller mining town of Madeley and the growing industrial centre of Coalbrookdale.

There are two reasons the site was so useful to the early industrialists. The raw materials, coal, iron ore, limestone and clay, for the manufacture of iron, tiles and porcelain are exposed or easily mined in the gorge. The deep and wide river allowed easy transport of products to the sea at Bristol Channel.

Formation

The gorge carries the River Severn south towards the Bristol Channel. It was formed during the last ice age when the water from the previously north-flowing river became trapped in a lake (Lake Lapworth) created when the Irish Sea ice sheet dammed the river. The lake level rose until the water flowed through the hills to the south. This flow eroded a path through the hills, forming the gorge and permanently diverting the Severn southwards. [3] [4] [5] [6]

The Gorge parish

The Gorge is a civil parish within the borough of Telford and Wrekin and the ceremonial county of Shropshire. It covers the part of Ironbridge Gorge that falls within the Telford and Wrekin Council Unitary Authority area and includes the settlements of Coalbrookdale, Coalport, Ironbridge, Jackfield and Lightmoor, but not Buildwas or Broseley which are in the Shropshire Council Unitary Authority area. It is divided into three parish wards: Coalport & Jackfield (2 councillors), Ironbridge Gorge (3 councillors) and Lightmoor (3 councillors). The Gorge Parish Council has its offices and holds its meetings at the Maws Craft Centre in Jackfield. [7]

The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 3,275. [8]

Women in the Ironbridge Gorge ward had the third lowest life expectancy at birth, 74 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016. [9]

Conservation in the Gorge

Green Wood Centre has spent over twenty years training new coppice and woodland workers, with the aim of reviving the coppicing industry.

Severn Gorge Countryside Trust manages most of the woodland, grassland and other countryside within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, around 260 hectares (640 acres) in all. BTCV's Green Gym works with the trust to assist them on woodland work.

Severn Gorge Countryside Trust and The Green Wood Centre run a joint volunteer project enabling local people to engage locally in activities such as coppicing, scrub removal, deer fencing, step building and woodland management.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Lapworth</span> English geologist

Charles Lapworth FRS FGS was a headteacher and an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordovician period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironbridge</span> Town in Shropshire, England

Ironbridge is a riverside village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. Located on the bank of the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge, it lies in the civil parish of The Gorge. Ironbridge developed beside, and takes its name from, The Iron Bridge, a 100-foot (30 m) cast iron bridge that was built in 1779.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coalbrookdale</span> Village in Shropshire, England

Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge and the Telford and Wrekin borough of Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. It lies within the civil parish called the Gorge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broseley</span> Market town in Shropshire, England

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 iron bridge in the world was built in 1779 across the Severn, linking Broseley with Coalbrookdale and Madeley. This contributed to the early industrial development in the Ironbridge Gorge, which is now part of a World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telford Steam Railway</span> Heritage railway in Shropshire, England

The Telford Steam Railway (TSR) is a heritage railway located at Horsehay, Telford in Shropshire, England, formed in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeley, Shropshire</span> Human settlement in England

Madeley is a constituent town of Telford and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. The parish had a population of 17,935 at the 2001 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coalport</span> Village in Shropshire, England

Coalport is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located on the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield. It forms part of the civil parish of the Gorge and is the south-eastern corner of the borough of Telford and Wrekin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Iron Bridge</span> Bridge across the River Severn in Shropshire, England

The Iron Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. Its success inspired the widespread use of cast iron as a structural material, and today the bridge is celebrated as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust</span>

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 Industrial Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackfield</span> Human settlement in England

Jackfield is a village in the Telford and Wrekin borough of 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.

Lake Lapworth was a postulated glacial lake in Great Britain, believed to have formed during the last ice age when glaciers ended the northern outlet of the Severn. This ran through the Dee. At some point or points it ran into glaciers and backed up to form a resultant lake. This overflowed southwards cutting the Ironbridge Gorge, near Telford in Shropshire. This permanently diverted most of the Severn drainage basin to its current basin which flows south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironbridge and Broseley railway station</span> Former railway station in Shropshire, England

Ironbridge and Broseley railway station was a stop on the Severn Valley Railway Line; it served the towns of Ironbridge and Broseley in Shropshire, England.

The Wellington to Craven Arms Railway was formed by a group of railway companies that eventually joined the Great Western Railway family, and connected Wellington, Shropshire and Shifnal, with Coalbrookdale, Buildwas, Much Wenlock and a junction near Craven Arms. Its objectives were dominated by the iron, colliery and limestone industries around Coalbrookdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Edward Bridge</span> Railway bridge in Shropshire, England.

The Albert Edward Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackfield Tile Museum</span> Museum of ceramic tile making, part of the Ironbridge Gorge

Jackfield Tile Museum is a museum which presents the history of the British decorative tile industry between 1840 and 1960, the period in which this factory and that of Maw & Co nearby played an important part in this industry. The museum lies in the village of Jackfield, near Broseley, on the south bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire, England. It is located within a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. It is one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge museums administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

The Tuckies is a hamlet in the eastern part of Jackfield, lying on the south bank of the River Severn, in the Ironbridge Gorge, and opposite the village of Coalport. The purpose of this article is to capture its historical importance during the industrial revolution and provide links to the people and culture that once thrived here. The lower part of The Tuckies, in Ferry Road, is still badly affected by flooding and head-height water levels are clearly displayed in a doorway at The Boat Inn where the 1922 memorial footbridge crosses the River Severn to Coalport. The Severn Valley railway, operated by GWR, ran through The Tuckies and the original railway bridge, now forming part of the Severn Valley Way, still crosses the road there, at OS grid reference 693024.

The lost village of Werps was one of a group of small settlements which later became collectively known as Jackfield in the Broseley Parish in Shropshire. The Werps lay on the south side of the river Severn, opposite the Old Coalport China Works and records indicate either three or four public houses, although it is unclear as to whether any of their names are renames of the same building or whether re-built on the same site.

Preens Eddy is a settlement on the south bank of the River Severn, opposite Coalport. Its history lies at the heart of the industrial revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of the Gorge, Ironbridge</span>

The Museum of the Gorge, originally the Severn Warehouse, is one of the ten museums of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. It portrays the history of the Ironbridge Gorge and the surrounding area of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England.

References

  1. ↑ Pannett, David (2008). "The Ice Age Legacy in North Shropshire" (PDF). Proceedings of the Shropshire Geological Society. 13: 86–91. ISSN   1750-855X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Wills, L.J. (1924). "The Development of the Severn Valley in the Neighbourhood of Iron-Bridge and Bridgnorth". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 80 (1–4): 274–308. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1924.080.01-04.15. S2CID   130464410. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Lapworth, C. (1898).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Harmer, F.W. (1907). "The Origin of Certain Cañon-like Valleys". Quart. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 63: 470–514. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1907.063.01-04.33. S2CID   130742061.
  5. ↑ Wills, L.J. (1924). "The Development of the Severn Valley in the Neighbourhood of Iron-Bridge and Bridgnorth". Quart. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 80 (1–4): 274–308. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1924.080.01-04.15. S2CID   130464410.
  6. ↑ Beckinsale, R.P.; Richardson, L. (1964). "Recent Findings on the Physical Development of the Lower Severn Valley". The Geographical Journal . 130 (1): 87–105. Bibcode:1964GeogJ.130...87B. doi:10.2307/1794269. JSTOR   1794269.
  7. ↑ "Welcome". The Gorge Parish Council. 4 February 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Bennett, James; et al. (22 November 2018). "Contributions of diseases and injuries to widening life expectancy inequalities in England from 2001 to 2016: a population-based analysis of vital registration data". Lancet public health. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
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