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Although he was born in Scotland, Thomas Telford has a particularly close connection with the County of Shropshire, having served as its Surveyor of Public Works from 1787 until his death in the 1830s.
The County contains many examples of his works, including canals, aqueducts, bridges, churches and the Holyhead Road, which passed right through the centre of what is now the new town of Telford, established in the 1960s and named after him.
It was because of this strong local connection that Telford Development Corporation financed the setting up of a Telford Collection of books and documents in the 1970s and 1980s. When the Development Corporation was wound up, the Collection was donated to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.
It consists of a number of original documents - such as two draft manuscript versions of Telford’s autobiography – plus a large collection of secondary source material, including illustrative material, on all aspects of Telford’s life and works.
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 Thomas Telford
Engraving of Thomas Telford, with Pontcysyllte Aqueduct visible in the background
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