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Originally called the Severn Gorge and sometimes Coalbrookdale, the gorge now takes its name from the town of Ironbridge, which is in turn named after its famous iron bridge, the first of its kind in the world, and a monument to the industry that began there. The bridge was built in 1779 to link the industral town of Broseley with Madeley Wood and Coalbrookdale.

It is a beautiful and scenic place which also has great historical importance: it is said to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. This began in Coalbrookdale with Abraham Darby's invention of a process for producing high quality iron. Other local towns, such as Broseley, Coalport and Jackfield , grew to make the area an industrial centre.

The gorge carries the Severn south towards the Bristol Channel. It was formed during the last ice age when the output from the previously north flowing river became trapped in a lake created by glaciers to the north. The level of the lake rose until it was able to flow over the hills to the south. This flow eroded a path through the hills forming the gorge and permenantly diverting the Severn southwards.

There are two reasons the site was so useful to the early industrialists. The raw materials, coalCoal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by mining. It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It is composed primarily of carbon and hydrocarbons, along with assorted other elements, including sulfur. Often associated wi, iron oresteel production. Iron ores are minerals from which metallic iron can be extracted. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite (FeO) or hematite (FeO), both of which are iron oxides. However, as much of the pure magnetite and hematite ore h, limestoneshale overlaid by limestone. Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of mineral calcite (calcium carbonate). The primary source of this calcite is usually marine organisms. These organisms secrete shells that settle out of t and clayFor the town in the United States, see Clay, New York. Clay is a generic term for an aggregate of hydrous silicate particles less than 4 micrometers in diameter. It consists of small crystals of the minerals silica (SiO) and alumina (AlO). These elements,, for the manufacture of iron, tileA tile is a small, manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as clay or stone used for covering roofs, floors, and walls, or other objects such as tabletops. The word is derived from the French word tuile which is, in turn, from the Latin word tegus and porcelainPorcelain is a type of hard semi-translucent ceramic fired at a higher temperature than glazed earthenware, or pottery. It is white, but mildly translucent and can be decorated to provide colour. Chinese Porcelain Chinese porcelain is made from a hard pas are exposed or easily mineSilver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein or (coal) seam. Materials commonly recovered by mining include bd in the gorge. The deep and wide river allowed easy transport of products to the sea.