Coalbrookdale

Village in the Telford and Wrekin unitary authority, England, effectively a suburb of Telford, situated in the Severn Gorge; population (1991) 1,000. Sometimes known as the ‘cradle of the Industrial Revolution’, Coalbrookdale became the world's most important iron-producing area following Abraham Darby I's successful attempt in 1709 to use coke – rather than coal or charcoal – to smelt iron in a blast-furnace, thereby allowing for a massive increase in production. It is now the site of the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron which forms part of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.