Model of Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, 1784

Made:
1784 in Coalbrookdale
maker:
Thomas Gregory
designer:
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard
Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale  by

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Model of cast-iron bridge over the Severn at Coalbrookdale by
Science Museum Group Collections
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Mahogany model of the cast-iron bridge over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale, with engraved brass place. Made by Thomas Gregory for Abraham Darby III, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, 1784.

Coalbrookdale on the River Severn was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. By the 1750s local industrialists, perfectly placed to combine the natural resources necessary to smelt iron, called for a bridge to support their rapidly developing businesses. The resulting iron bridge built by Abraham Darby III became a tourist spectacle of technological and architectural wonder. The single arch span of 100 feet (30.5 metres) weighed 384 tonnes. Darby commissioned this model from the foreman pattern-maker Thomas Gregory, who also developed the bridge’s design. Darby exhibited the model in London in 1786, and presented it to the Royal Society of Arts in 1787.

Details

Category:
Civil Engineering
Object Number:
1882-29
Materials:
mahogany (wood) and brass (copper, zinc alloy)
Measurements:
overall: 915 x 560 x 2000 mm (approximate)
type:
bridge and model
credit:
Royal Society of Arts