Iron Bridge UK
Rating: 7,9/10 (482 votes)  The name Iron Bridge is not only the bridge itself, but also the gorge named after it and the settlement nearby. The gorge is located in Shropshire, northwest of Birmingham, in the Severn Valley. This place is famous for mineral deposits, as well as monuments to the active industrial development of the county in the 18th century. This area includes several sites and is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Iron Bridge area includes a number of mines, factories, roads and workers' dwellings. One cannot but mention the local forests and other natural resources of the gorge landscape. In Kolbrookdale, buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries have survived. The site is famous for the first industrial development of coke under the leadership of Abraham Derby I. It is also worth visiting the Hay Brook Wali, an open air museum where you can immerse yourself in the industrial atmosphere of the Victorian era by looking at the remains of an old blast furnace.
The small village of Jackfield on the south bank of the Severn was once home to the production of unique decorative ceramic tiles. And in the village of Kolport on the northern bank of the same river, for the first time, the labor of Chinese workers was used, and that large factory produced porcelain products.
But the main attraction of this area is the Iron Bridge itself - the first bridge in the world, which was built from cast iron in 1779 by Abraham Derby III and metallurgical engineer John Wilkinson. Since then, metal has been considered around the world to be a much more suitable material for the construction of bridges than the stone that was constantly used before.
The natural landscape and monuments of the industrial revolution are carefully guarded by the special museum trust Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.We also recommend reading Factories in the Derwent Valley, UK Topic: Iron Bridge UK. |
