Ironbridge

A historic industrial town in the Severn R gorge, WC England, UK, 21 km/13 mi SE of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, the birthplace of England's Industrial Revolution. In 1709 Abraham Darby, a Bristol ironmaster, was the first to smelt iron, with coke replacing traditional charcoal, nearby at Coalbrookdale, and in 1778–9 Europe's first iron bridge was cast and erected here; 196 ft (59·8 m) long, its centre span 100 ft (30·5 m) and its rise 45 ft (13·7 m), the weight precisely recorded as 378·5 tons (384·6 tonnes). Since 1968 it has been the focus of a successful open-air museum on the model of Colonial Williamsburg. Ironbridge Gorge is a world heritage site.

Ironbridge is a settlement beside the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England.

The village grew up beside, and takes its name from the famous Iron Bridge, a 30 metre (100 foot) cast iron bridge that was built across the river there in 1779.

The area around Ironbridge is described as the "Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution" because it includes Coalbrookdale and Broseley, where Abraham Darby I perfected the technique of smelting iron with coke, allowing much cheaper production of iron. Soon afterwards the ancient Madeley market was relocated to the new purpose built Square and Georgian Butter Cross and the former dispersed settlement of Madeley Wood gained a planned urban focus as Ironbridge, the commercial and administrative centre of the Coalbrookdale coalfield. The Iron Bridge proprietors also built the Tontine Hotel to accommodate visitors to the new Bridge and the industrial sights of the Gorge.

The former Iron Bridge and Broseley railway station, on the Severn Valley line (GWR) from Hartlebury to Shrewsbury, was situated on the south side of the Iron Bridge until 1966.

By the 19th century, Ironbridge had had many well-known visitors including Benjamin Disraeli, but by the mid-20th century the village was in decline. In 1986 though, Ironbridge became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (which covers the wider Ironbridge Gorge area) and has become a tourist attraction.

An annual Coracle Regatta is held in August on the River Severn at Ironbridge, along with many other events throughout the year.