Iron Bridge - 1779 - Ironbridge, Shropshire - Bridge Date Stones and Plaques on Waymarking.com

The Iron Bridge is a bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire first spanned the river on 2 July 1779, and it was opened to traffic on 1 January 1781. It was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron.

"The Iron Bridge is a bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron, and was greatly celebrated after construction owing to its use of the new material.

In 1934 it was designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument and closed to vehicular traffic. Tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950, when ownership of the bridge was transferred to Shropshire County Council. It now belongs to Telford and Wrekin Borough Council. The bridge, the adjacent settlement of Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge form the UNESCO Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. The bridge is a Grade I listed building, and a waypoint on the South Telford Heritage Trail.

Abraham Darby I first smelted local iron ore with coke made from Coalbrookdale coal in 1709, and in the coming decades Shropshire became a centre for industry due to the low price of fuel from local mines. The River Severn was used as a key trading route, but it was also a barrier to travel around the deep Severn Gorge, especially between the then important industrial parishes of Broseley and Madeley, the nearest bridge being at Buildwas two miles away. The iron bridge was therefore proposed to link the industrial town of Broseley with the smaller mining town of Madeley and the industrial centre of Coalbrookdale. The use of the river by boat traffic and the steep sides of the gorge meant that any bridge should ideally be of a single span, and sufficiently high to allow tall ships to pass underneath. The steepness and instability of the banks was problematic for building a bridge, and there was no point where roads on opposite sides of the river converged.

The Iron Bridge was the first of its kind to be constructed, although not the first to be considered or the first iron bridge of any kind. An iron bridge was partly constructed at Lyons in 1755, but was abandoned for reasons of cost, and a 72-foot-10-inch (22.2 m) span wrought iron footbridge over an ornamental waterway was erected in Kirklees, Yorkshire in 1769.

The site, adjacent to where a ferry had run between Madeley and Benthall, was chosen for its high approaches on each side and the relative solidity of the ground. The Act of Parliament described how the bridge was to be built from a point in Benthall parish near the house of Samuel Barnett to a point on the opposite shore near the house of Thomas Crumpton. Pritchard died on 21 December 1777 in his towerhouse at Eyton on Severn, only a month after work had begun, having been ill for over a year.

The masonry and abutments were constructed between 1777 and 1778, and the ribs were lifted into place in the summer of 1779 by the use of wooden derricks and cranes. The bridge first spanned the river on 2 July 1779, and it was opened to traffic on 1 January 1781."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Date built or dedicated as indicated on the date stone or plaque.: 1779 (MDCCLXXIX) Date stone, plaque location.: On iron arch Road, body of water, land feature, etc. that the bridge spans.: River Severn Website (if available): [Web Link] Parking (safe parking location): N 52° 37.597 W 002° 29.109

Visit Instructions:
Please provide an original picture of the location and some original words regarding your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.