Ind Archaeol Rev 4 (2)

The clearance in 1950 of the area of the buried Old Furnace in the Upper Works at Coalbrookdale revealed the extent and condition of the remains of the furnace. Clearance for measurement and photography was followed by a recognition of the importance of the site. The author describes how his interest in the Coalbrookdale Company arose, and examines the history and development of the Old Furnace area after the furnace was blown out in 1818. The excavation and stabilization work is detailed, alongside some of the problems encountered. A small museum was established at the site; after twenty years, this was absorbed into a new and larger Museum of Iron.

Norton Mill, largely demolished during the 20th century, was thought to have occupied its site continuously since the twelfth century. Road construction offered the opportunity to test this view through excavation in the late 1970s. A complex building chronology was revealed, with the earliest structure probably dating to the 18th century. Waste from bone button manufacture indicated the nature of an ancillary industry. The foundations of the building were so massive that no trace of an earlier structure could have survived. Au/LD

Note outlining the history and development of an early 20th century waterworks, with an associated limekiln works for water softening that represents a unique survival. The site had been Scheduled in 1974, and the limekiln works was under repair. LD