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Coalport is a village in Shropshire, now part of the new town of Telford. It is located on the River Severn at grid reference SJ700021, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield.
The town was planned as a canal / river interchange and a complete 'new town' by ironmaster William Reynolds, who between 1788 and 1796 built warehouses, workshops, factories and workers accommodation in Coalport. He also directed the construction of the Shropshire Canal, linking the East Shropshire coalfield with the River Severn - the terminus being Coalport Wharf between the Brewery Inn and Coalport Bridge. Coalport at this time was much larger than it is today.
[edit] Cast iron bridge
The famous bridge of cast iron was built in 1818 and unlike its even more famous neighbour at Ironbridge, still takes vehicular traffic, albeit limited to a single line of traffic and with a limitation to one car at a time. It was restored and strengthened in 2004.
The easternmost part of Coalport was, at one time, served by two railway stations. Coalport (LNWR) was a terminus of a branch from Wellington on the northern river bank. Coalport (GWR) was a through station on the Severn Valley Railway on the other, southern bank (now part of The Severn Way waymarked walk). The station building is a private residence. Two converted ex-British Railways coaches have been placed between the platforms to provide holiday accommodation.
The Coalport Canal runs through the village and greatly aided the town's development. The Hay Inclined Plane was completed in 1793 and is one of the country's major industrial monuments and the best preserved and most spectacular of its kind. It enabled canal barges and narrowboats to be transferred from the bottom of the Severn gorge to the top, up a 1 in 4 gradient on wheeled cradles, operated by a team of just four men. It was the equivalent of 27 canal locks and could transport six barges per hour in this fashion, an operation that would have taken over three hours using a traditional lock system. It was eventually superseded by rail transport and fell into neglect, silting up and becoming overgrown and was infilled in the 1920's. It wasn't until the late 1970's that it was partially restored, with further restoration in the 1990's. The Hay Inclined Plane is now part of the Blists Hill museum, part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust that operates Blists Hill Victorian Town, just half a mile up the hill.
[edit] Pottery
Coalport was home to an important pottery founded in 1795 by John Rose. It produced Coalport China which became popular worldwide. The building it was initially produced in is now a Youth Hostel and cafe. Production later moved across the canal to the buildings which are now the Coalport China Museum. Production moved to Staffordshire in 1926, and Coalport China is now part of the world famous Wedgwood group of pottery companies.
Coalport's Royal Mail postcode begins TF12.
(Source: Wikipedia) |