Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust given £115k funds boost
A grant worth nearly £115,000 will go towards improving Shropshire's World Heritage Site. The money has been given to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust as part of a national scheme to put the spotlight on Britain's industrial heritage.
It will be used in order help repair the historic Bedlam Furnace and create a series of monument trails around the surrounding area.
The money comes from a £1.5m donation given to the Association of Independent Museums by Biffa Award, an environmental fund managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts.
The money supports AIM's National Heritage Landmarks Partnership Scheme, which promotes the industrial development that has shaped Britain's history.
AIM announced £480,000 to be shared between the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, the Birmingham Conservation Trust, the Brooklands Museum, birthplace of British motorsport and aviation in Weybridge, Kew Bridge Engines Trust and the National Mining Museum Scotland.
Barrie Williams, chairman of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said "It is excellent news that the trust has secured a Biffa National Heritage Landmarks Grant.
"This grant will help support the conservation and interpretation of Bedlam Furnaces, at the heart of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, along with the development of a new monuments trail.
"As the site of the iconic painting 'Coalbrookdale by Night' by Philip de Loutherbourg, Bedlam Furnaces rates as one of the most important monuments in the Gorge."
The Bedlam Furnaces are the remains of iron furnaces found in Bedlam between Ironbridge and Coalport. They were built in the 1750s and are thought to represent the earliest survivors of a 'new generation' of blast furnace built specifically to use coke as a fuel.
By the early 19th century, superseded by more steam powered furnaces, they went out of use.
