Ironbridge Gorge Museums

The Ironbridge Gorge Museums are a series of ten amazing museums located in the spectacular and beautiful, Ironbridge gorge, near Telford, that offers a great day out for people of all ages.

Spanning the Ironbridge Gorge and set either side of the River Severn, the indoor and outdoor museums offer visitors a chance to step back in history and experience the sights and sounds of the Gorge's past. The museum's take visitors on a journey from the start of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1700's to the Victorian era 100 years later.

The most recent museum is Enginuity, where the workings of everyday 21st Century objects are unravelled.

The museums stand as a testiment to the Ironbridge Gorge - six miles that 300 years ago, changed the world forever.

Ironbridge

Blists Hill - Ironbridge Gorge Museums

Chemist Shop at Blists Hill

Massive Wheel at Enginuity

It was here in Shropshire that the Industrial revolution first started. For here, the great Quaker Ironmaster Abraham Darby the First, discovered the secret of smelting iron with cheap and plentiful coke instead of expensive and less efficient charcoal.

Whilst Britain's first iron-making centre may be a peaceful place today, in the past it was filled with smoke, fire and blast furnaces from which the sounds and smells of early industry arose, bearing the first iron rails, wheels, boats, the first steam locomotive, as well as the first iron bridge.

Other industries were also first developed in Ironbridge, ranging from decorative ceramic tile making, to hand-painted porcelain and clay pipes.

Ironbridge was declaired a World Heritage site in 1986, following the work of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum trust, set up in 1967 to protect the heritage and remains of the Industrial revolution for future generations.

PRICE INFORMATION

An 'Annual Ticket and Passport" allows unlimited daytime entry to the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums for twelve months. And if you miss a museum, you can visit once after the inital twelve months have expired.

Adult £14
60 Plus £12.50

Child £9.50

Family 2 adults and 3 children £46.00.

All the museums have free car parking, except in the pay-and-display car park in Ironbridge. Coach parking is free at all sites.

OPENING TIMES

The museums are open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm. Some of the smaller sites close during the winter and there is some seasonal variation.

Please phone Ironbridge Tourist Information Centre Tel: 01952 884391 for an update.

All museums are closed 24th, 25th and 31st December and 1st January.

LOCATION

The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 Junction 4 or 5)