Blists Hill is an open air museum, one of ten museums operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. An open air museum is a distinct type of Museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors The Ironbridge Gorge Museums are Industrial Heritage Museums based in the Ironbridge Gorge at Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale and Broseley Madeley is a Town and Civil parish, now part of the New town of Telford in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county Telford ( ˈtɛlfɚd is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, Shropshire (ˈʃrɒpʃɪə/ /-ʃə alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated in print only Shrops, is a county in the England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town at the end of the 19th century. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar
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History of the site
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Blists Hill was an industrial region consisting of a brick and tile works, blast furnaces and coal, iron and fire clay mines operated by the Madeley Wood Company. A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as Ceramic, stone, metal or even Glass. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Fire clay is a specific kind of Clay used in the manufacture of Ceramics especially Fire brick. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body The Madeley Wood Company was formed in 1756 when the Madley Wood Furnaces also called Bedlam Furnaces were built beside the River Severn, one mile west of Blists A short section of the Shropshire Canal ran across the site to the Hay Inclined Plane, which transported boats up and down the 207 ft (63 m) tall incline from Blists Hill to Coalport. The Shropshire Canal was a Tub boat canal built to supply coal ore and limestone to the industrial region of east Shropshire, England that adjoined the River The Hay Inclined Plane is a Canal inclined plane in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, with a height of 207 feet (63 m Coalport is a village in Shropshire, now part of the New town of Telford.
Open air museum
Introduction
Blists Hill Victorian Town, originally called Blists Hill Open Air Museum, was opened in 1973, and has been slowly growing ever since. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The museum's buildings fall into one of three categories: buildings that were already part of the industrial site (e. g. the brickworks); buildings that simply represent a generic type (e. A Brickworks also known as a brick factory is a factory for the manufacturing of Bricks, from Clay or Shale. g. the sweet shop), some adaptively reusing existing premises on site or being replicas of those still standing elsewhere; and original buildings that have been relocated to the museum (e. A replica is a copy that is relatively indistinguishable from the original A structure relocation is the process of moving a Structure from one location to another g. The New Inn public house, which originally stood between Green Lane and Hospital Street in Walsall). Walsall ( is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England.
Each building is manned by one or more costumed demonstrators, who have been trained in the skills and history of the profession they re-enact. For example, in the printshop, visitors can watch posters and newssheets being printed. The demonstrators normally talk in the third person, referring to the Victorians as "they" or "them" (rather than in the first person "I" or "we" which some similar museums employ): the museum management believes that this allows greater scope for comparing modern techniques with those re-enacted at the museum. Staff may also be seen performing such diverse tasks as operating stationary steam engines, iron founding and mucking out pigs. A steam engine is a Heat engine that performs Mechanical work using Steam as its Working fluid. Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times
The first building visitors see in the museum is the bank (modelled on the still-standing Lloyds Bank branch in Broseley), at which they can change modern coinage into token coinage that represents the predecimal farthings, halfpennies, pennies, and threepenny bits, at an exchange rate of 40 new pence to 1 old penny. Lloyds Bank Plc was a British Commercial bank which operated in England and Wales (and to a much lesser extent Scotland) from 1833 until its Broseley is a small town in Shropshire, England with a population of 4912 (2001 census A farthing (meaning fourth part) was a British coin worth one quarter of a penny and 1/960 of a Pound sterling, slightly over a "mill" The threepence was a denomination of currency used by various jurisdictions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, until Decimalisation They can then use the token coins as an alternative to modern currency for buying goods whilst visiting the museum (the gift shop at the museum entrance operates only in modern currency).
Town area
The High Street area of the Upper Town has been developed around a London and North Western Railway interchange siding with a plateway which is an original feature of the site. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR L&NWR was a Railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922 A siding, in Rail terminology, is a track section distinct from a through route such as a main line or Branch line or spur A plateway is an early kind of railway or tramway or Wagonway, with a Cast iron rail. Shops erected on the site include a chemist (with fittings from Bournemouth), butcher (from Ironbridge), grocer (replica of a building from Oakengates), and printer (with equipment from Kington, Herefordshire). Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον 'pharmakon' = drug is the Health profession that links the Health sciences with the chemical sciences Bournemouth ( is a large coastal resort town in the Borough of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. A butcher is someone who prepares various Meats and other related goods for sale Ironbridge is a settlement on the River Severn, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge in Telford, Shropshire, England. Beginning as early as the 14th century a grocer (also called purveyor) was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices pepper sugar and (later cocoa tea and coffee Oakengates is a Town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, and now forms part of the Kington is an historic Market town and Civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Small crafts include an iron foundry, a shoeing smith, bootmaker, locksmith, decorative plasterer (with equipment from Burton upon Trent), builder, and sawmill. A foundry is a Factory which produces Metal Castings from either Ferrous or non-ferrous alloys A smith, or metalsmith, is a person involved in the shaping of Metal objects Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks A Plasterer is a Tradesman who works with Plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a large town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, A general contractor is a group or individual that Contracts with another organization or individual (the owner for the Construction or Renovation A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters
Premises in Quarry Bank include a tallow candle manufactory (from Madeley), a bakery (from Dawley), a physician’s surgery (in a Sutherland Estate cottage from Donnington), and a Board School (from Stirchley). Tallow is a rendered form of Beef or Mutton Fat, processed from Suet. A candle is a Light source and sometimes a Heat source consisting of a solid block of Fuel and an embedded wick. Madeley is a Town and Civil parish, now part of the New town of Telford in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county A bakery (also called baker's or bakehouse) is an establishment which produces or/and sells Bread, pies pastries Cakes Biscuits Dawley is a small Town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health For other places named Donnington see Donnington Donnington is a Suburb of the New town of Telford. School boards were set up in England and Wales under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaigning by George Dixon, Joseph Chamberlain Stirchley is a component settlement of the New town of Telford, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire,
Ironworks area
The original Madeley Wood Company blast furnaces produced pig iron from 1832 to 1911. The Madeley Wood Company was formed in 1756 when the Madley Wood Furnaces also called Bedlam Furnaces were built beside the River Severn, one mile west of Blists A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Pig iron is the intermediate product of Smelting Iron ore with coke, usually with Limestone as a flux Their remains have been conserved and a blowing engine from the Lilleshall Company’s Priorslee Ironworks installed in one of the houses. StGeorge's and Priorslee are suburbs of the new town of Telford in Shropshire, England Nearby are displayed a pair of beam engines from the same location, alongside a working wrought iron works using equipment from Bolton in an iron-framed building designed by Rennie for Woolwich Dockyard. A beam engine is a design of Engine based on the principles of a first-class Lever. QtubIronPillarJPG|thumb|right| Iron pillar at Delhi India containing 98% wrought iron]] Wrought iron is commercially pure Iron. Bolton ( is a large town in Greater Manchester, in the North West region of England. John Rennie ( 7 June 1761 at Phantassie, near East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland - 4 October 1821 Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his Flagship Henri Grace a Dieu
Countryside area
The more remote parts of the site demonstrate natural recolonisation of an industrial landscape. Amongst buildings re-erected in this area are a corrugated iron mission church (from Lodge Bank), a squatter cottage (from Dawley), and a toll house (designed by Telford for the Holyhead Road at Shelton). Corrugated galvanised iron (colloquially corrugated iron, commonly abbreviated CGI is a Building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use Dawley is a small Town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector beside a tollgate on a Toll road. Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 - 2 September 1834 was born in Westerkirk, Scotland. Watling Street is the name given to an Ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern Shelton is a suburb of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It was once a village of its own but the town of Shrewsbury has grown steadily in the area
External links
- Blists Hill Victorian Town
- Shropshire tourism information
- Virtual Shopshire information
- Information from the 24 Hour Museum
- Archaeology in the Ironbridge Gorge
- Photographs and Description
References
- Trinder, Barrie (1986). The 24 Hour Museum is the UK 's National Virtual Museum Reaching over one million visitors per month it provides a comprehensive guide to all the public museums galleries Blists Hill Open Air Museum: a guide to the museum and exhibits. Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
- Herbert, Tony (1986). The unnatural history of Blists Hill: a guide to the plants and wildlife of the museum site. Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
- West, Bob (1988). "The making of the English working past: a critical view of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum", in Lumley, Robert (ed. ): The Museum Time-Machine: putting cultures on display. London: Routledge, 36-62. ISBN 0415006511.
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