Broseley
Broseley is located in the West Midlands area of England in the county of Shropshire. The town lies close to the River Severn which passes to the north and east of Broseley. It also lies on the southern side of the Ironbridge Gorge, a major landmark and tourist site in the area.
It is thought that Broseley first came into being as a Saxon settlement. For many years the area was the site of large Royal forests. The town’s entry in the Domesday Book gives the town the name of Bosle so it may have been of some significance at the time although not much else is known about the town here.
Broseley gained a fair amount of fame during the years of the Industrial Revolution as a manufacturer of iron, clay products such as pipes and pottery and ceramic products. It was also a significant centre for coal mining and stone quarrying in the Shropshire area as a whole. The town itself expanded greatly during this period. It is said that Broseley is the place where the first iron boat in the world was constructed, where the first Watt blowing engine was put together and where one of the first flanged railways was set up.
Broseley became very well known over the years in the area for the types of bricks and tiles that were produced here. Broseley bricks are a very distinctive red and brown colour and the town’s tiles range from red to light brown in colour. Broseley was also involved in the building of the Iron Bridge in the area as the plans for the actual bridge were drawn up in the town. The Iron Bridge was originally designed to link the town of Broseley with that of Coalbrookdale.
Visitors to Broseley can learn a lot about the town’s heritage and history by making a visit to the museums in nearby Ironbridge. There is, for example, a clay pipe factory site in this location (Broseley Clay Tobacco Pipe Museum) which tells a fascinating story about this industry in the town. There is also a town trail that can be taken which may be of interest. Visitors should try to make the time to visit Raddle Hall which was built in the 1660s and Broseley Hall which dates back to the 18th century and which was designed by Thomas Farnoll Pritchard who was also responsible for the design of the area’s Iron Bridge.