10 Museums, 1 Beautiful Valley. Why spend hours travelling to places of interest when you have 10 fascinating museums to visit on your own doorstep?
Save money on entry with the Flex Card.
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
Ironbridge, full of surprises - 10 Museums, 1 Beautiful Valley
Why spend hours travelling to places of interest when you have 10 fascinating attractions to visit on your own doorstep? Now you can save money too, with the Passport Ticket and the Flex Card.
Save Money with the Passport Ticket
The Passport Ticket allows entry to all 10 of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum attractions. If you buy the Passport ticket you make huge reductions on entry costs.
Entry to all 10 museums without Passport ticket (adult) = £54.25
Entry to all 10 museums with Passport ticket (adult) = £19.95
The ticket allows repeat day time access to all 10 Ironbridge Gorge Museums, during normal opening hours.
If after 12 months you have still not visited particular sites, you can return at any time in the future to make one free visit to the sites that you've missed.
Save a massive 40% on the Passport Ticket with the Flex Card!*
What is a Flex Card?
A Flex Card is a great way for you and your family to save money. It offers a 40% discounted entry into any of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum attractions. Flex Card offer valid until 30 June 2009.
The bonus of having a Flex Card doesn't stop there, it also give you discounted rates on many activities at participating Telford & Wrekin leisure centres.
The adult price of a Flex Card is £5 (renewable annually) and CHILDREN under 16 get a FREE FLEX CARD!
To check out the full list of prices click for the Flex Card
click here
*Please note this offer not available when booking online
The Attractions
Blists Hill Victorian Town:
Meet the Victorians in this recreated Victorian town.
Costumed staff give a warm welcome and a fascinating insight into how life was lived in Victorian times.
Exchange your money in the bank, admire the goods in the Grocers, Bakery and Sweetshop.
Visit our brand new parade of Victorian shops on Canal Street including a new Post Office and Fried Fish Dealers.
Find out about curious remedies in the Chemist, and see the printer and candle maker in action.
Discover what life was like for a Victorian housewife in the three cottages and in the summer enjoy a journey on a horse and cart and a ride on the fairground.
On Wednesday mornings you can see red hot molten iron being poured in The Foundry.
There are also special seasonal events. Check out 'thebestoftelford' Event section to find out more details on the Halloween themed Ghostly Gaslight (31/10/09), and Fireworks Night (07/11/09).
Enginuity:
Making education fun!
Switch on your imagination in our interactive Design & Technology Centre and discover how good ideas are turned into great products.
Find out how a little ingenuity will let you pull a 10 ton locomotive.
Generate electricity from flowing water.
Look at familiar objects with new eyes using the giant X ray machine.
Build an earthquake proof tower and challenge our robotic arm.
Sketch out your own bright ideas in the Design Zone.
Join in one of the range of fun 'design and make' challenges which run through all the major school holidays and watch amazing interactive shows on certain days.
Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron:
Explore the site and the remains of the water powered blast furnace where Abraham Darby I perfected the smelting of iron with coke instead of charcoal. It was the secret that helped make iron the essential material of the Industrial Revolution.
In the Great Warehouse models, films and original artefacts bring to life the revolutionary techniques that made Coalbrookdale the most famous ironworks in the world.
See the versatility of cast iron and marvel at the great skill of the Coalbrookdale craftsmen in the fabulous display of domestic and decorative ironwork. A large gift shop sells a range of cast-iron goods and souvenirs alongside a café serving a selection of light refreshments.
Darby Houses:
Experience the everyday life of Coalbrookdale's Quaker ironmasters in the former homes of the Darby family - Rosehill House and Dale House.
From their doorsteps you will get a grandstand view of the restored Furnace Pool which once helped power the ironworks. Step inside the houses and you will discover rooms packed with original family furniture, china, mementos, costumes and family papers.
Jackfield Tile Museum:
Wander through the original gas-lit trade show room, galleries and period room setting. You will be able to see, touch and even walk on magnificent British tiles.
See exquisite examples of individual tiles and period room settings depict various locations that would have been decorated with tiles.
You can walk through an Edwardian Tube Station, the bar of an Hotel, a children's hospital ward and a 1930s 'front room'.
Huge panels depicting mediaeval stories and nursery rhyme scenes have been rescued from buildings and now grace the walls of the galleries.
Find out how the different varieties were made; encaustic, embossed, dust press and tube-lined. On certain days you can see the Craven Dunnill factory in operation. Craven Dunnill - Jackfield site.
Special workshop days are often held during school holidays, when you can have a go at decorating your own tile using the tube-lining technique.
Coalport China Museum:
See the National Collections of Caughley and Coalport china in the magnificent old Coalport China works. Rich colours, bright glazes and exquisite decoration.
Experience much more; with demonstrations of traditional ceramic techniques which reveal the secrets of ceramic production.
Children will love their own special gallery, where they'll find plenty to discover; dressing up, puzzles and a small soft play area.
During most school holidays you can drop-in to the creative workshops and have a go at a range of ceramic techniques. Decorate a mug or plate with your own designs or sculpt with clay.
Museum of the Gorge:
The Old Severn Warehouse is a short walk alongside the River from the Iron Bridge.
See what the Gorge was like in 1796 with the help of a giant 12 meter long model. Spot a Royal carriage crossing the Iron Bridge, the cargo on a Severn Trow and a tiny figure toiling in a coalmine.
Understand more about the area's history and discover why the Gorge was made a World Heritage Site during a short film.
The Iron Bridge and Toll House:
Follow in the footsteps of millions of tourists who since 1779 have journeyed here to marvel at the world's first cast-iron bridge.
Built by Abraham Darby III and now recognised as one of the great symbols of the Industrial Revolution, the remarkable structure still dominates the small town that bears its name.
The secrets of how and why it was built are revealed in an exhibition housed in the original Tollhouse on the south side of the Bridge.
Broseley Pipe Works:
Broseley, two miles from the Iron Bridge, was once home to one of the most prolific clay tobacco pipe making factories in Britain.
Production came to an end in the 1950s when the works were abandoned and left untouched until reopened as a Museum in 1996. In the restoration little has been changed since the workers left. The Museum is a wonderfully preserved time capsule of an ancient local industry.
Tar Tunnel:
A short walk from Coalport China Museum, alongside the Shropshire Canal, takes you to the Tar Tunnel.
Over 200 years ago natural bitumen trickled like treacle into pools. It was turned into pitch, lamp black and rheumatics remedies. Now you can walk along this brick-lined tunnel where the bitumen still oozes through the walls. Don't forget to pick up your hard hat on the way in.
Opening Hours
The Museums are open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm. Some of the smaller sites close during the Winter - call 01952 884 391 for details. Broseley Pipeworks is open from 1pm to 5pm during the main Summer season only.
All the Museums are closed 24/25 December and 01 January.