IRONBRIDGE GORGE
The River Severn runs across the county from west to east. Around Ironbridge (and also through Bridgnorth) it runs in a deep gorge which has been cut through the rock.		The Gorge was cut by the erosive action of a river flowing beneath a glacial ice sheet, about 15,000 years ago.

The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Ironbridge nestles on the banks of the River Severn, dominated by the Iron Bridge itself. A quirk of geological fate gave Ironbridge its place in history. It just happens that all the ingredients for making high quality iron were exposed in the area some fifteen thousand years ago. Melting water from beneath a glacier carved the steep-sided gorge, and cut down into layers of coal, limestone and iron ore. So, when modern man came along, all the material he needed for iron smelting was easily accessible to him, in large quantities.