The birthplace of industry: telling world heritage stories in the Ironbridge Gorge
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 20/10/2018

The Ironbridge Gorge’s claim to being the birthplace of industry originates, not from the titular bridge, but instead from a now unassuming structure a short distance away in Coalbrookdale which played a vital part in kick-starting the Industrial Revolution. If the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site is, as it regularly claims, ‘as important as the pyramids,’ then the Darby Furnace is the Sphinx to the Iron Bridge’s Great Pyramid. Two iconic industrial heritage sites vital not just for their role in the history of the Industrial Revolution but also for the acceptance of industrial monuments as part of the World Heritage List.
The Darby Furnace has no shortage of stories to tell, it is a global symbol of innovation, a place of work for generations of people, the birthplace of modern industry and one of the first Industrial World Heritage Sites to spotlight a just handful. The challenge remains though; how to communicate to a range of audiences the significance of structure that has been described in the same line both as ‘a pile of wet bricks’ and ‘a shrine to the industrial age’?
This paper will aim to explore both the particular challenges of interpreting industrial archaeology to a wide range of audiences and how Ironbridge’s World Heritage Status impacts on how the story of the Darby Furnace is told.

Author: Raine, Joe - Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage (Presenting author)
Co-Author: Acheson, Coralie - Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage