Ironbridge Gorge

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Ironbridge Gorge

UNESCO World Heritage site
The Iron Bridge
Location	Ironbridge, United Kingdom
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iv, vi
Reference	371
Inscription	1986 (10th Session)
Area	547.9 ha
Website	www.ironbridge.org.uk
Coordinates	52°37′35″N 2°28′22″W / 52.62639°N 2.47278°W / 52.62639; -2.47278
Location of Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire. Show map of Shropshire Ironbridge Gorge (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom

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]

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.

Contents

• 
  1 Formation
  


• 
  2 The Gorge parish
  


• 
  3 Conservation in the Gorge
  


• 
  4 Photos
  


• 
  5 See also
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

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 of Telford and Wrekin borough. It covers the part of Ironbridge Gorge that falls within the Telford and Wrekin Council area, which is most of it, and includes settlements such as Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale and Coalport (but not Buildwas or Broseley) and part of Jackfield. It is divided into three parish wards: Lightmoor, Ironbridge, and Coalport & Jackfield. The 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]

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.

Photos

Downstream from the ironbridge	Redressing the bridge	Aerial view

See also

• Ironbridge Gorge Museums


• Geology of Shropshire


• Ironbridge Power Station

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. 
   


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: 274–308. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1924.080.01-04.15. 
   


3. 
   ^ Lapworth, C. (1898).  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. 
   


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: 274–308. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1924.080.01-04.15. 
   


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. JSTOR 1794269. 
   


7. 
   ^ "Welcome". The Gorge Parish Council. 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2014-05-22. 
   


8. 
   ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 25 November 2015. 
   

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ironbridge Gorge.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ironbridge.

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Ironbridge Gorge Visitor Information


• Telford Culture Zone


• Tourism Website for Ironbridge


• Ironbridge Gorge Tourism website


• ITV Local footage at Ironbridge Gorge


• 
  Photo of the Gorge from the air^{[permanent dead link]}


• 
  The Ironbridge Gorge by Virtual Shropshire


• 
  World Heritage Site information from UNESCO
  


• Map of UNESCO World Heritage Site


• Ironbridge Archaeology


• Green Wood Centre


• Severn Gorge Countryside Trust


• Green Gym


• Landslides in the Ironbridge Gorge by the British Geological Survey

v t e Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Blists Hill Victorian Town Broseley Pipeworks Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron Coalport China Museum Darby Houses Enginuity Iron Bridge and Tollhouse Jackfield Tile Museum Museum of the Gorge Tar Tunnel

v t e Ceremonial county of Shropshire
Unitary authorities	Shropshire Council Telford and Wrekin Council
Major settlements	Bishop's Castle Bridgnorth Broseley Church Stretton Cleobury Mortimer Clun Craven Arms Ellesmere Ludlow Market Drayton Much Wenlock Newport Oswestry Shifnal Shrewsbury Telford (Dawley Madeley Oakengates Wellington) Wem Whitchurch See also: List of civil parishes in Shropshire
Rivers	Camlad Clun Corve Ledwyche Onny Perry Rea Rea Brook Redlake Roden Severn Teme Tern Unk Vyrnwy Worfe
Canals	Llangollen Canal Montgomery Canal Shrewsbury Canal Shropshire Union Canal
Topics	Flag Geology Settlements History Museums Schools Parliamentary constituencies SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Railways Windmills

v t e World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom
England	Bath Blenheim Palace Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape Derwent Valley Mills Durham Castle and Cathedral Frontiers of the Roman Empire Hadrian's Wall Ironbridge Gorge Jurassic Coast Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Lake District Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City Maritime Greenwich Saltaire Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey Tower of London Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church
Scotland	Edinburgh Old Town and New Town Forth Bridge Frontiers of the Roman Empire Antonine Wall Heart of Neolithic Orkney New Lanark St. Kilda
Wales	Blaenavon Industrial Landscape Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
Northern Ireland	Giant's Causeway
British Overseas Territories	Gorham's Cave Complex Gough Island Inaccessible Island Henderson Island Town of St. George and Related Fortifications