Some Abraham Darby companies 1717 – 1784

The use of coke as a fuel to smelt iron had been attempted in the second half of the 17th Century, but the first successful process was established by Abraham Darby around 1709 at his newly acquired ironworks in the Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. This was a major industrial breakthrough because it allowed the casting of much larger pieces than the old charcoal fuel process, which had been largely restricted to pots and kettles. Darby’s achievement in mastering the coke smelting process enabled this small valley in Shropshire to become the cradle of the world’s industrial revolution. The products of Darby’s ironworks were shipped down the River Severn by barge to Bristol and thence all over Britain and progressively outwards to Europe and the rest of the world.