Darby Houses

"A part of the World Heritage Site Ironbridge Gorge"

Coalbrookdales' Ironmasters were primarily Quakers and the Darby family was no exception. The Darby Houses are made up of two houses, Rosehill House and Dale House which were home to the Darby family for many years.

For 5 generations the Darby family managed the Coalbrookdale Ironworks and were an important part of this community. Other Quaker families became involved by marriage such as the Ford and Reynolds families, who also played an important role in the history of this area.

Access is from the Museum of Iron car park, under the railway arches and at the road on the left-hand side, you will see a narrow path going upwards and signs which are not always that clear. Walk up this path and you will see two houses a red-bricked house, Dale House and one with a cream exterior, Rosehill. From their doorsteps looking back across the gorge you will see below the restored Furnace Pool which once helped to power the Ironworks, but today looks like a large pond. Behind the houses is the Quaker cemetery.

Going upstairs, there are some interesting paintings as sculptures on the walls and landing and two rooms have been set up to represent the bedroom and the Parlour. The bedroom is furnished as it it was occupied by one of the daughters, the bed is a reproduction iron bed of an 1835 design, there are also some Coalport porcelain dating from the 1840's in the room such as a candlestick and ring stand. The second room is the Day Parlour which would have been used by the ladies of the house to entertain guests after a meal, or to carry out activities such as reading, needlework and drawing. Other rooms on this level and on the first level are set up as exhibition rooms showing Quaker books, family papers, family memorabilia, ivory toys, beadwork purses, Quaker costumes and more. Going down a separate staircase from the first you come down into the kitchen. This large kitchen was added in 1810 and the large range which is the centrepiece of the room dates from this same period. It has a large oven, a hot water thank and additional small fireboxes for heating the hobs. This is a large room and off of here there would have been a separate scullery and pantry rooms. From here you make your way back towards the entrance going through the China Display Room which contains another small range. This would have been the original kitchen but when the large kitchen was built this would have become the breakfast room. However it was converted back to a small kitchen when occupied by Rebecca as she found the larger kitchen and range was more than she needed and wanted something smaller. Today it houses cabinets and displays of a vast array of china owned by the Darby family.

Rebecca's Bedroom and Bed

Dale House

Built by Abraham Darby I and originally completed in 1717, however it was updated and enlarged by further generations. It was built to overlook the Upper Furnace Pool and its blast furnace, and was the place where hospitality was extended to visitors to both the family and the ironworks by the Darby family. Abraham Darby III enlarged the house between 1768 and 1776 converting the attic area into a third floor and it is to this period that the house and garden have been restored. During the 20th century it was converted to flats and this almost destroyed the original character of the building.

On a visit today after some sympathetic restoration you get to see:

• the Main Hall, Study where he oversaw the building of the Iron Bridge

• the parlour where you can browse through books, documents and historic images and discover more about the history of the ironworks

• the dining room which has been restored to its former floor plan but has not been totally renovated so that you can see the vaulted cellar which runs underneath the house.

Allow 30 minutes to an hour for your visit. These houses are not always available for inspection inside as they rely on how many volunteers are available to open and supervise visitors on the day you visit. On the day I visited you could only look around Dale House.

A view over the restored Furnace Pool

The Annual Passport. The Ironbridge Museums operate an Annual Ticket and Passport where for one price you can get access to all 10 of their sites with unlimited day time access during normal opening hours, so you can return as often as you like for a whole year. If after 12 months you have still not visited particular sites, you can return at any time in the future to make one free visit to the sites that you've missed. These tickets are sold at all the museums and the visitor information centre in Ironbridge itself or you can buy them in advance by phone. The 2009 prices for the Passport tickets are:

Adult £19.95;  60+ £15.95; Child £12.95 or a family ticket for 2A up to 3C £54.95.

Location: Darby Houses, Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge, Shropshire Grid Reference: SJ666049 Ceremonial County: Shropshire Map Link: Multimap Aerial photo:  multimap   multimap birdseye view Getting there: Exit J6 of M54. Follow signs for Ironbridge Gorge. Then follow signs for Coalbrookdale Museums. Park in the Museum of Iron car park. Access: Website: Other Useful Websites: Darby Houses Email: Address: Darby Rd, Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge Postcode: TF8 7EW Telephone: Opening Times: March to September 10am-5pm. Closes for the winter months. Charges: Use the Annual Passport as detailed above or for entry to the houses only prices are: Adult £4.15; 60+ £3.25; Child £2.75 Nearby Locations: Other Location Pages: Bedlam Furnaces Blists Hill Victorian Town Broseley Pipeworks Coalport China Museum Enginuity Hay Inclined Plane    Hay Inclined Plane Gallery Jackfield Tile Museum   Iron Bridge and Toll House Museum of the Gorge Ironbridge Museum of Iron Tar Tunnel Other Relevant Pages: Living History Section List of Living History Museums Living history museums introduction World Heritage Sites      World Heritage Sites - Further Information World Heritage Sites in the UK Industrial Heritage Anchor Points and The European Route of Industrial Heritage   The Industrial Revolutions Technological Developments in the Industrial Revolution Transport in the Industrial Revolution  Further Information on Industrial Heritage  European Route of Industrial Heritage - UK Sites    Notes:

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By: Tracey Park	Section: Historic Houses Section	Key:
Page Ref: Darby_houses	Topic: Historic Houses	Last Updated: 08/2009

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