The Victoria History of Shropshire

Asa Briggs reviews Volume XI, on the new town of Telford and its unique heritage.

Asa Briggs | Published in 31 Aug 1986
  • The Victoria History of Shropshire: Volume XI, Telford
    Edited by G.C. Baugh - Published for the University of London, Institute of Historical Research, by Oxford University Press – XIX + 377pp - £50
The new town of Telford, so named in 1968, includes within its boundaries Ironbridge, 'the cradle of the industrial revolution'. There is no other new town with such a unique historic heritage. As a result – and as a result also of the imaginative activities of the Ironbridge Gorge Trust – thousands of visitors, some of them children, some of them knowledgeable about industrial history and archaeology, are attracted each year to Telford. They are the natural successors to the enchanted visitors to Coalbrookdale in the eighteenth century who found far more to see there than Telford's new iron bridge, the first in the world, built in 1779.

To continue reading this article you will need to purchase access to the online archive.

Buy Online Access  Buy Print & Archive Subscription

If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.

Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.