Ironbridge Gorge

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]

Ironbridge Gorge

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Iron Bridge spanning the gorge
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
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

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.

Gallery

• 
  Downstream from the ironbridge
• 
  Redressing the bridge in 2007
• 
  Aerial view
• 
  Passageway beneath the Iron Bridge - October 2021

See also

• Ironbridge Gorge Museums
• Geology of Shropshire
• Severn Valley
• Ironbridge Power Station
• Listed buildings in The Gorge

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.

External links

• Ironbridge Gorge Museums
• World Heritage Site information from UNESCO
• Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage Archived 2 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine
• The Gorge parish council