The Ironbridge Gorge
300 years ago this valley changed the world when a Quaker ironmasters found a much cheaper way of making iron. In 1709 Abraham Darby fired his blast furnaces with coke instead of charcoal, and he and his descendants developed products to exploit the iron - the first cast iron wheels, iron steam engine cylinders, iron rails, the first iron bridge, iron aqueduct, iron-framed building, and even the world's first railway locomotive. This burst of inventiveness set in motion the Industrial Revolution and changed the world for ever.
From 1700 to 1800 the furnaces in the Gorge burned day and night, and visitors came to marvel at this "most extraordinary district in the world". But as the raw materials were used up in the 19th century and industry developed elsewhere the valley fell silent and nature reclaimed the landscape. It is hard to imagine that this was once the home of the largest ironworks in the world. Today in this beautiful gorge the remains of those momentous times are celebrated in 10 remarkable museums - of iron, porcelain, decorative tiles, of ironmasters homes, of furnaces, factories and a lost way of life. At its heart is the internationally recognised icon of the Iron Bridge of 1779 - and Darby's furnace dating back to the mid 1600s. The Ironbridge Gorge is a World Heritage Site and its history is cared for by a trust that preserves and interprets the remains of this birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
