Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron

File:Museum of Iron, Coalbrookdale - geograph.org.uk - 1252051.jpg

Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron

The Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron is one of ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. The museum is based in the village of Coalbrookdale in the Ironbridge Gorge, in Shropshire, England within a World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

It is open to the public every day of the week.

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 for the Great Exhibition of 1851
• the Deerhound Table designed by sculptor John Bell for the Paris International Exhibition of 1855
• cast iron Coalbrookdale Cooking Pots that introduced Abraham Darby I to the iron trade.

The Old Furnace

Abraham Darby's blast furnace

The Old Furnace is where Abraham Darby I perfected the smelting of iron with coke instead of charcoal. It is a Grade I listed structure.

The Old Furnace was in 2014 the 100th recipient of the Engineering Heritage Award given by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The Coalbrookdale site is also home to Enginuity, an interactive design and technology centre.

External links

• Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron