Bedlam Furnaces

UNESCO: The Ironbridge Gorge

I could have added so much more to this video...I may have to do an addendum at some point. In 1986 the Ironbridge Gorge was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, making it one of the first in the UK to have that honour. There are so many museums on site exploring the history of the Gorge, the Darby family, iron making and Victorian life.

Sources include:

UNESCO World Heritage Website - whc.unesco.org

Sources on site at The Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron,
Blists Hill Victorian Village Museum, Bedlam Furnaces & Hay Incline

Music is Opus One by Audionautix. Opus One by Audionautix is licensed under Creative commons attribution licence
( Artist:

The Old Furnace, Coalbrookdale Shropshire

Dr Matt Thompson, Senior Curator at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, gives a brief overview of the history of the site and the furnace.

Repair work begins on Shropshire's iconic Iron Bridge

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE - Ironbridge - Coalport - Coalbrookdale round

Our video is a guided walk In the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire. The walk starts in Ironbridge going over the famous Iron Bridge along the side of the River Severn to Coalport and then on to Coalbrookdale to see the Museum of Iron and The Old Furnace where the Iron Industry began 300 years ago.

For the full write up visit the video on:

The video is taken from the website of 'JR Hackney', otherwise known as 'The Taxi Driver'. Providing you with free information on a whole host of walks around the country that we have undertaken and recommend to you.

For more guided walks visit:

Iron Bridge Gorge: Birthplace of a Revolution

The narrator identifies the reason the Industrial Revolution began here: easy access to iron, coal, and the nation's and world's markets via the Severn River.

MY VISIT TO IRONBRIDGE 2008

Ironbridge has to be one of the places you must add to your list of places to visit before you die. Next to Bridgenorth, Bewdley and Arley. Ironbridge is credited of being the birthplace of the industrial revolution and more famously for building the first ever ironbridge in coalbrookdale and that geezer Thomas Telford. if you ever visit this area in shropshire. You will need more than a day to see it all.
for more information on this area and more places to see visit. Visit.








This is my visit to Ironbridge in shropshire in mid feb 2008. Small slideshow i made for my old youtube channel ive changed the music. if anyone remembers it.

AIM Biffa Award: The National Heritage Landmarks Partnership Scheme

In 2011, AIM entered into a 3-year funding partnership with Biffa Award which provided a £1.5m investment into independent museums and industrial heritage sites across the UK.

The Scheme focused on specific projects that relate to key industries including mining, textile manufacture, shipbuilding, metal processing, chemical industries, defence, farming and technologies such as power generation and communication.

This video is a celebration of the AIM Biffa Award funding and of the many heritage projects that the funding supported:

Newman Brothers Coffin Works
Coffin Works Learning and Interpretation Project

Brooklands Museum
Stratospheric Chamber Restoration & Interpretation

Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Bedlam Furnaces – Icon of Industry

National Mining Museum of Scotland
The National Mining Memorial

The Historic Dockyard Chatham
Chatham Dockyard World Heritage Discovery Centre

Underfall Yard
Revealing the story of Hydraulic Power

Brunel Museum
Opening Up Brunel’s Shaft

Cromford Mills
Arkwright: Father of the Factory System

Bursledon Brickworks: The Museum of Bricks & Brickmaking
Reinstating the Second Steam Engine

ss Great Britain
The Restoration of the Grade II* listed 'Brunel's' Drawing Office

Middleport Pottery
Bringing the William Boulton Steam Engine at Middleport Pottery Back to Life

National Waterways Museum
From Port to Powerhouse - A Window on the World

Woodhorn Museum
Colliery Winding House New Visitor Access & Interpretation

The Postal Museum
Mail Rail: The Birth of the Underground Postal Railway

Industrial Revolution Pt2 Iron Bridge Gorge)

Tar Tunnel Top # 8 Facts

Tar Tunnel Top # 8 Facts

Exploring a iron work

This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined coking coal. The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides of the valley. As it contained far fewer impurities than normal coal, the iron it produced was of a superior quality. Along with many other industrial developments that were going on in other parts of the country, this discovery was a major factor in the growing industrialisation of Britain, which was to become known as the Industrial Revolution. Today, Coalbrookdale is home to the Ironbridge Institute, a partnership between the University of Birmingham and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust offering postgraduate and professional development courses in heritage.Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Madeley and the adjacent Little Wenlock belonged to Much Wenlock Priory. At the Dissolution there was a bloomsmithy called Caldebroke Smithy. The manor passed about 1572 to John Brooke, who developed coal mining in his manor on a substantial scale. His son Sir Basil Brooke was a significant industrialist, and invested in ironworks elsewhere. It is probable that he also had ironworks at Coalbrookdale, but evidence is lacking. He also acquired an interest in the patent for the cementation process of making steel in about 1615. Though forced to surrender the patent in 1619, he continued making iron and steel until his estate was sequestrated during the Civil War, but the works continued in use.

In 1651, the manor was leased to Francis Wolfe, the clerk of the ironworks, and he and his son operated them as tenant of (or possibly manager for) Brooke's heirs. The surviving old blast furnace contains a cast-iron lintel bearing a date, which is currently painted as 1638, but an archive photograph has been found showing it as 1658. What ironworks existed at Coalbrookdale and from precisely what dates thus remains obscure. By 1688, the ironworks were operated by Lawrence Wellington, but a few years after the furnace was occupied by Shadrach Fox. He renewed the lease in 1696, letting the Great Forge and Plate Forge to Wellington.[1] Some evidence may suggest that Shadrach Fox smelted iron with mineral coal, though this remains controversial. Fox was evidently an iron founder, as he supplied round shot and grenado shells to the Board of Ordnance during the Nine Years War, but not later than April 1703, the furnace blew up. It remained derelict until the arrival of Abraham Darby the Elder in 1709. However the forges remained in use. A brass works was built sometime before 1712 (possibly as early as 1706), but closed in 1714.[2] In 1709, the first Abraham Darby rebuilt Coalbrookdale Furnace,[3] and used coke as his fuel. His business was that of an ironfounder,[3] making cast-iron pots and other goods, an activity in which he was particularly successful because of his patented foundry method, which enabled him to produce cheaper pots than his rivals. Coalbrookdale has been claimed as the home of the world's first coke-fired blast furnace; this is not strictly correct, but it was the first in Europe to operate successfully for more than a few years.[4]

Darby renewed his lease of the works in 1714, forming a new partnership with John Chamberlain and Thomas Baylies. They built a second furnace in about 1715, which was intended to be followed up with a furnace at Dolgûn near Dolgellau and taking over Vale Royal Furnace in 1718. However, Darby died prematurely in 1717, followed quickly by his widow Mary. The partnership was dissolved before Mary's death, Baylies taking over Vale Royal. After Mary's death, Baylies had difficulty extracting his capital. The works then passed to a company led by his fellow Quaker Thomas Goldney II of Bristol and managed by Richard Ford (also a Quaker). Darby's son Abraham Darby the Younger was brought into the business as an assistant manager when old enough.

The company's main business was producing cast-iron goods. Molten iron for this foundry work was not only produced from the blast furnaces, but also by remelting pig iron in air furnaces, a variant of the reverberatory furnace. The Company also became early suppliers of steam engine cylinders in this periodFrom 1720, the Company operated a forge at Coalbrookdale but this was not profitable. In about 1754, renewed experiments took place with the application of coke pig iron to the production of bar iron in charcoal finery forges. This proved to be a success, and led to the partners building new furnaces at Horsehay and Ketley. This was the beginning of a great expansion in coke ironmaking.The Old Furnace began life as a typical blast furnace, but went over to coke in 1709. Abraham Darby I used it to cast pots, kettles and other goods. His grandson Abraham Darby III smelted the iron here for the first Ironbridge, the world's first iron bridge!

Madeley Woods: The Ramps!

Short video on our progress of the ramps and us riding them, like and dont forget to subscribe for more content! HOPE YOU ENJOY!

WALES- Furnace of Change prt1

The fourth episode of BBC's Story of Wales. It looks at the industrialization of Wales begining in the eighteenth century

I do not own, nor do I or intend to profit from this content whatsoever. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Out of the Fiery Furnace - Episode 4 - The Revolution of Necessity

From the Stone Age to the era of the silicon chip — metals and minerals have marked the milestones of our civilization. OUT OF THE FIERY FURNACE traces the story of civilization through the exploitation of metals, minerals and energy resources. Renowned radio and BBC television commentator Michael Charlton hosts seven, one-hour programs filmed in more than 50 different parts of the world. This very unusual public television series combines the disciplines of history, science, archeology and economics in order to explore the relationship between technology and society.

A shortage of wood in 17th century England gave rise to the use of a new energy source — coal. This episode features the ingenious inventions of the Industrial Revolution and their impact on the western world. You'll travel from Britain’s fiery “heathen hell” at the center of its iron industry in Coalbrookdale to Sheffield, where steel was first developed and mass produced. The work of ironmasters of the period is highlighted in magnificent bridges, ships and the Eiffel Tower. (60 minutes)

VHS Cover:

Disclaimer: This video series, produced in 1986 by Opus Films is shown here for Educational Purposes. It includes footage of cultures in India, China, Near East, etc. and ancient methods of manufacturing metals. It is hoped that this information is useful for archival and educational purposes to viewers all across the world. The video is provided here under the Fair Use policy.