Broseley

Broseley
Population	4,912
OS grid reference	SJ676015
Unitary authority	Shropshire
Ceremonial county	Shropshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BROSELEY
Postcode district	TF12
Dialling code	01952
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Shropshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Ludlow

Broseley is a small town in Shropshire, England with a population of 4,912 (2001 census). The River Severn flows to the north and east of the town. The area lies within Shropshire Council, in the southern area committee. The first iron bridge in the world was built in 1779 to link Broseley with Coalbrookdale and Madeley, and led to the development of Ironbridge, which is now part of a World Heritage Site.

History

File:ChurchatBroseley.jpg

The All Saints Church, Broseley

The settlement of Broseley appeared as far back as the Domesday Book, listed as Bosle.

The town is located on the south bank of the Ironbridge Gorge and so shares much of the history of its better known, but more recent, neighbour, Ironbridge. Ironmaster John Wilkinson lived in the town and Abraham Darby I is buried here. In the Industrial Revolution, Broseley was a centre for ironmaking, pottery and clay pipes [1].

The town of Broseley, once part of the Shirlett Royal Forest, was to see enormous expansion during the Industrial Revolution - indeed, in 1600, the town consisted of only 27 houses.

In 1605 wooden wagonways were shown to exist in Broseley [2]. Presuming that they pre-date this, Broseley has a serious claim to having had the oldest railways in Britain.

It was in Broseley that John Wilkinson constructed the first-ever iron boat, and this is also where the plans for the Iron Bridge were drawn up. A clay pipe factory still exists as one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum's collection of preserved industrial heritage sites. The earliest recorded pipemaker being in 1590. In the past Broseley has also been heavily involved in coal mining and stone quarrying industries and the jitties (lanes and paths) of Broseley Wood are attributed to the land given to miners to build their houses upon - many beautiful examples of eighteenth century houses still exist. It is also known that the stone used to build Buildwas Abbey was taken from Broseley.

The early industrial nature of Broseley led to haphazard development of the settlements, and would have seen the rich rubbing shoulders with the poor. Despite much modern development, the town is in fact less populated now than it would have been two hundred years ago, when population figures were over five thousand.

By the beginning of the twentieth century industry had declined and what remained was a legacy of uncapped mineshafts, derelict buildings, abandoned quarries, spoil heaps and pit mounds. Modern development and the effects of time have largely removed these scars. However, throughout the area there remains a wealth of heritage sites for those prepared to look. These include the railways, mines, ironworks, brickworks, kilns, houses and fine buildings associated with the area's industrial past. Many of these heritage sites are easily missed by the casual walker and their contributions to the rich history of the area are little known.

Broseley & Ironbridge (in Cyan) shown in relation to Telford

Culture

In 2007, Broseley won a Gold award in the Heart of England Britain in Bloom competition for the second year running, also gaining first place in the Best Small Town category.

Broseley has a large Amateur Dramatics society, BroADS, which performs a number of plays every year. Every month, the Birchmeadow Centre is used by Broseley Cinema, which shows well rated films on its own large screen. There is also a thriving arts and crafts community, who form a group known as the Broseley Artists.

The town has a number of historic pubs and eateries, mostly located towards the town centre. Broseley also has a "Broadplace" facility, a small centre for community usage of laptop computers, help & guidance, and free Internet access. It is open Monday mornings in the Birchmeadow centre (slightly north of the town centre).

Legacy

The type of bricks and tiles once produced in abundance in Broseley have become synonymous with any product of their type, regardless of where they were made. Broseley bricks are notable for their brown and red mottled nature, a sign of their cheap production, and Broseley tiles are of a strawberry red to light brown hue.

The pipeworks in Broseley were responsible for producing millions of clay pipes which were shipped worldwide, and are invaluable in dating archaeological sites, as they survive without decay and their maker's stamp reveals their date of origin.

Works pioneered here and across the Ironbridge gorge went on to set the stage for the mass production of iron products in the later industrial revolution which drove the expansion of the British empire. This is in part due to the work of John Wilkinson and his construction of precision-engineered steam engines and weaponry.

Education

There are two primary schools in Broseley: Broseley Church of England (or Dark Lane) school and John Wilkinson School, named after the famous Ironmaster whose residence is nearby. For secondary education, most pupils travel to William Brookes School in Much Wenlock or to Bridgnorth Endowed School, Bridgnorth.

Notable people

• Hermione Baddeley, the film and theatre actress.
• John 'Iron Mad' Wilkinson, the eighteenth century industrialist, was a resident of Broseley, and it was here that he first mastered his unique art of boring cannons for increased accuracy.
• Abraham Darby I, an industrialist of an earlier period is buried there.
• John Guest, who started the legacy of GKN.
• Shane Embury, the bassist in the Grindcore band Napalm Death. jack hammonds • Jason Stead - Shropshire's smallest man

External links

• Broseley History Society
• British History Online on Broseley.
• Broseley Community website
• Broseley's Birchmeadow Community Centre