Museum of the Gorge, Ironbridge facts for kids
The Museum of the Gorge, once known as the Severn Warehouse, is one of ten museums managed by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. It shares the amazing history of the Ironbridge Gorge and the nearby area of Coalbrookdale, in Shropshire, England.
Contents
The Story of the Museum
River Transport and Warehouses
The River Severn was a super important way to move things around. This was especially true before trains were invented. Special boats called Severn trows carried raw materials to the factories in the Gorge. They also took finished goods away.
Back then, the river's water levels changed a lot with the seasons. In summer, the river was too low for boats to travel. So, all the finished products had to wait in warehouses. They stayed there until the water levels rose again.
The museum building is located at the Wharfage. This is just west of the village of Ironbridge. It's a special spot where the main factory area of Coalbrookdale meets the Severn Valley.
Around 1840, the Coalbrookdale Company built a large warehouse here. The architect, Samuel Cookson, designed it. Its style is very unique for a warehouse. It looks like Gothic Revival architecture, which was popular at the time. This style was made famous by Pugin.
The warehouse's roof has a parapet with castle-like crenellations at each end. It also has fancy pinnacles. The side facing the river looks like a church. It has a rounded apse part. This part is flanked by two narrow towers. These towers have cross-shaped arrow loops, but they actually hide chimneys.
The building is made of local red bricks. Yellow bricks are used for decoration. The main roof is simple, like a typical warehouse. It has four tiled sections with plain gable ends. Most of the walls have no windows. High windows in the gables provided security. The walls are supported by buttresses. The apse extension was originally an office. It has tall lancet windows that let in a lot of light. This makes that side look even more like a church.
The warehouse is a very important historical building. It is listed as Grade II*. The old sandstone walls of the wharf were built in the 1780s. They stretch for half a mile between the warehouse and the Iron Bridge. These walls are also listed as Grade II.
Small narrow gauge tramways were used around Coalbrookdale. The short path from the warehouse doors to the river had special grooves. These were for wheels without flanges, set right into the wharf's paving.
Later, more warehouses were built next to this building. They are now used for light industry and shops. At one time, the Merrythought teddy bear factory was located there. They made famous bears like Mr Whoppit.
Flooding Challenges
Flooding has always been a big problem for this part of the river. The warehouse area floods almost every year. The highest flood ever is marked by a painted line inside the building. It's almost at the very top of the windows!
Exploring the Museum
The museum's main job is to help visitors understand the whole story of the Ironbridge Gorge sites. Films and interactive displays make learning fun and easy.
There are not many exhibits about the warehouse building itself. But you can see examples of iron goods. These were made by the Coalbrookdale Company. They would have been shipped out from this very warehouse.
The Amazing Diorama
The most exciting part of the museum is a huge diorama. It is about 12 meters (40 feet) long! This model shows the entire Gorge. It looks just like it did when industries were at their busiest.
The diorama shows King George III visiting the Iron Bridge in 1796. The bridge had opened 15 years earlier, in 1781. This was during the Napoleonic Wars. Britain was at war with France. The industries in the Gorge were very important for the war effort. However, the Darby family ran the foundries in Coalbrookdale. They were Quakers, so they did not make cannons. Other ironworks, like Calcutts Ironworks in Jackfield, did make them.
In the early days of the first industrial revolution, the Gorge had many small furnaces. There were also many shallow bell pits. These pits were used to dig for coal. They used horse gins to lift things out. You can see models of these on the diorama. Steam power was rare back then. Only a few large furnaces had steam blowing engines.
One of the biggest parts of the diorama is the Hay Inclined Plane. This was part of the Shropshire Canal. It was about 350 yards (320 meters) long and opened in 1792. Boats mostly moved up and down it using gravity. But it also used an early Heslop steam engine. This engine helped winch canal tubs from the canal basin at the top. At the bottom of the inclined plane is the short Coalport Canal. You can also see the new Coalport China factory, which opened in 1795. It has four tall bottle kilns.
The Ironbridge Gorge and its museums are a big place to visit. The diorama helps you see all the different sites at once. It's a great way to plan your trip. Even though this is one of the smaller museums, the diorama and other displays are very helpful. They give you a good overview before you explore the other sites.
See also
- Listed buildings in The Gorge
