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PLACE NAMES


 
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| Broseley
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Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first iron bridge in the world was built in 1779 across the Severn, linking Broseley with Coalbrookdale and Madeley. This contributed to the early industrial development in the Ironbridge Gorge, which is now part of a World Heritage Site.
A settlement existed in 1086 and is listed as Bosle in the Domesday Book of that year, when it lay in the Hundred of Alnodestreu. That jurisdiction was dismembered in the time of King Henry I, when Broseley and Willey were reassigned to the Munslow Hundred. Finally they were transferred to the Liberty of Wenlock at its creation in the time of King Richard I. The place name appears as Burewardeslega in 1177, and in similar variants thereafter, indicating that it had anciently been Burgheard's (or Burgweard's) clearing, or grove. In Broseley's manorial history, the medieval family of de Burwardesley was considered by the historian R.W. Eyton to have been a cadet branch of the family of Fulk I FitzWarin of Whittington, Shropshire and Alveston, Gloucestershire.
The town is located on the south bank of the Ironbridge Gorge and so shares much of the history of its better known, but more recent neighbour, Ironbridge.
In 1600, the town of Broseley consisted of only 27 houses and was part of the Shirlett Royal Forest. The area was known for mining; some of the stone used to build Buildwas Abbey was taken from Broseley and there is evidence that wooden wagonways existed in Broseley in 1605, giving Broseley a serious claim to the oldest railways in Britain. The wagonways were almost certainly constructed for the transport of coal and clay and it was these resources that led to the huge expansion of the town during the Industrial Revolution.
Many of the developments celebrated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust's collection of preserved industrial heritage sites either started in Broseley or were connected to the town. Broseley was a centre for iron-making, pottery and clay pipes; the earliest recorded pipe-maker was working in the town in 1590. The Broseley Pipeworks is one of the trust's ten museums, as is the Jackfield Tile Museum, which is situated in Jackfield, just north-east of the town.
John Wilkinson constructed the world's first iron boat whilst living in the town, and the plans for the Iron Bridge were drawn up in Broseley. Abraham Darby I, who developed the process of smelting iron using coking coal, is buried here.
In the latter half of the 19th century the area suffered an economic decline, as industries moved elsewhere. This left a legacy of uncapped mine shafts, derelict buildings, abandoned quarries, spoil heaps and pit mounds.
In the last thirty years of the 20th century Broseley experienced a modern revival with the development of Telford across the River Severn. New estates were built to the east of Broseley centre, whilst many older properties were developed or renovated, but the town still has fewer inhabitants than it did 200 years ago, when population figures were over 5,000.
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