Coalport is a village in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England. It is located on the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

in the

Ironbridge Gorge The Ironbridge Gorge is a deep gorge, containing the River Severn in Shropshire, England. It was first formed by a glacial overflow from the long drained away Lake Lapworth, at the end of the last ice age. The deep exposure of the rocks cut ...

, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield. The settlement was planned as a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

–river interchange and a complete "new town" by

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

William Reynolds, who between 1788 and 1796 built warehouses, workshops, factories and workers' accommodation in Coalport. He also directed the construction of the Shropshire Canal, linking the

East Shropshire Coalfield East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

with the River Severn — the terminus being Coalport Wharf between the Brewery Inn and

Coalport Bridge Coalport Bridge is a cast iron arch bridge between Coalport and Preens Eddy in Shropshire, England. Early bridge Architect and bridge-builder William Hayward (1740–1782) designed the first crossing over the Severn at Coalport, based on two ti ...

. Coalport at this time was much larger than it is today. It forms part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of the Gorge and is the southeastern corner of the borough of

Telford and Wrekin Telford and Wrekin is a borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called The Wrekin. In 1998, the district became a unitary authority and was renamed "Telford and Wrekin" ...

Cast iron bridge

The

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...

was built in 1818 and unlike its even more famous neighbour at Ironbridge, still takes vehicular traffic, albeit limited to a single line of traffic, a 3-tonne weight limit and a height restriction of 6 ft 6in (1.98 m). It was restored and strengthened in 2004. The bridge links Coalport with Broseley, a small town approximately a mile (1.6 km) away. The bridge effectively extends Coalport across the river to an area historically known as Preens Eddy. On this southern side of the bridge is the Woodbridge Inn and the former

Coalport West railway station The GWR Coalport railway station, active 1862–1963, was originally built as a single through platform railway station on the Severn Valley Line serving the village of Coalport in Shropshire, England. By January 1896 an additional platform ...

. The Telford and Wrekin borough boundary runs through Preens Eddy - the Woodbridge Inn for instance lies in the Shropshire Council area.

Pottery

Coalport was home to an important

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

founded in 1795 by John Rose. It produced

Coalport porcelain Coalport, Shropshire, England was a centre of porcelain and pottery production between about 1795 ("inaccurately" claimed as 1750 by the company) and 1926, with the Coalport porcelain brand continuing to be used up to the present. The opening i ...

which became popular worldwide. The building it was initially produced in is now a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...

and café. Production later moved across the canal to the buildings which are now the Coalport China Museum. Production moved to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

in 1926, and, although the Coalport name was retained as a brand, the company subsequently became part of the world-famous

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

group.

Railways

The easternmost part of Coalport was, at one time, served by two railway stations. Coalport East ( LNWR) was a terminus of a branch from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

on the northern river bank. Coalport West ( GWR) was a through station on the Severn Valley Railway on the other, southern bank (now part of the Severn Way waymarked walk). The station building is a private residence. Two converted ex-

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...

coaches have been placed between the platforms to provide holiday accommodation.

Tar tunnel

The

Tar Tunnel The Tar Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel located on the north bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge at Coalport, England. It is one of ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums attractions administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Miner ...

, a former source of natural bitumen, is near the Coalport Canal, and is open to the public at certain times.

Memorial footbridge

Plaque on Coalport Memorial Bridge - geograph

The Memorial Bridge is a footbridge spanning the River Severn, linking the Tuckies part of Jackfield with Coalport. It was built with funds raised by public subscription in 1922, and is in memorial to the men of Jackfield and Coalport who were killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, later dedicated to those of both World Wars. The original structure was declared unsafe in 1997 but was refurbished and reopened in 2000.

Canal

The Coalport Canal runs through the village and greatly aided the settlement's development. The Hay Inclined Plane was completed in 1793 and is one of the country's major industrial monuments and the best preserved and most spectacular of its kind. It enabled canal barges and

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commer ...

s to be transferred from the bottom of the Severn gorge to the top, up a 1 in 4 gradient on wheeled cradles, operated by a team of just four men. It was the equivalent of 27

canal lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water ...

s and could transport six barges per hour in this fashion, an operation that would have taken over three hours using a traditional lock system. The canal was eventually superseded by rail transport and fell into neglect, silting up and becoming overgrown and was infilled in the 1920s. It was not until the late 1970s that it was partially restored, with further restoration in the 1990s. The Hay Inclined Plane is now part of the Blists Hill museum, part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust that operates Blists Hill Victorian Town, just half a mile up the hill.

Pubs

There are four

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s open in Coalport — the Brewery Inn, the Shakespeare Inn, the Boat Inn and the Woodbridge Inn (on the southern bank, by

).Shropshire Pub Survey
Coalport pubs

Bibliography

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References

External links

Bridge strengthening
{{authority control Villages in Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Populated places on the River Severn Ironbridge Gorge