The date 1638 on an iron lintel supporting the front of the Old Furnace at the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron in Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, England, UK, records the year of its construction at the ironworks where three generations of Quaker ironmasters pioneered the Industrial Revolution. However, the date is now thought to be 20 years too early. Abraham Darby I was the first to smelt pig iron using easily mined coking coal rather than charcoal in this furnace in 1707. In 1777 his grandson, Abraham Darby III, enlarged it to make the metal for the world’s first cast iron bridge.
Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, England, UK: the date 1638 painted on an iron lintel helping to support the front of the Old Furnace was intended to record the year of its construction at the ironworks where three generations of Quaker ironmasters helped pioneer Britain’s Industrial Revolution. However, the date is now thought to be 20 years too early, due to a re-painting error caused by corrosion of the metal. In 1709, Abraham Darby I (1678-1717), then known as Abraham Darby the Elder, was the first to smelt pig iron using coking coal rather than charcoal, in this furnace. Coking coal could be mined easily and it quickly became a raw material vital to both the birth and growth of the Industrial Revolution. Another lintel over the tapering mouth of the Old Furnace is dated 1777, the probable year in which Abraham Darby III (1750-1789) enlarged the structure in order to cast the metalwork of the world-famous Iron Bridge over the River Severn. It was the first cast iron bridge in the world when it opened to traffic in 1781 and was the largest cast iron structure of that era. The museum at Coalbrookdale, based on extensive remains of the ironworks, is one of ten museums administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, all within a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Size: 3700px × 2467px
Location: Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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