Grant-Making Trusts and Foundations
Like many museums and heritage conservation charities, we rely on the generous support of grant-making Trusts and Foundations to enable us to carry out our ongoing heritage conservation and education projects.
The support we receive helps to protect some of the UK’s most important heritage and assists us to tell the unique story of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and how it has shaped society since the 18th century.
Over the years, the support of Trusts & Foundations and statutory funders have enabled us to complete a number of major heritage conservation, restoration and capital projects.
coalbrookdale glass plate negatives
Help us to conserve and digitise our collection of 3,600 glass plate negatives before they are lost forever. This is one of the most important Designated collections belonging to the Trust documenting items produced in Coalbrookdale, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and the workers who were so instrumental in its success.
By helping us to raise funds for this important project, vital information and imagery of the Coalbrookdale Company's Collection will be preserved in perpetuity for anyone with historical interest to access, rather than quietly disintegrating in a storage room to be lost forever.
The photography department at Coalbrookdale was an intrinsic part of the ironworks, the heart of communication and commercial activity. Much is still to be discovered about the department, including the content of the majority of glass plates negatives. We hope these will provide a glimpse into a hidden world of print culture in one of the leading industrial companies of the nineteenth century.
the winding engine at blists hill victorian town
Can you help us bring our Steam Winding Engine back to life?
Sadly, one of our main Steam exhibits at our most popular museum, Blists Hill, has broken and has been out of service for over three years.
The Winding Engine is a remarkable piece of engineering that shows how the Victorians harnessed steam to power their engines to transport miners and coal up and down the mine shaft.
The pithead gear (outside) and steam winding engine are genuine items that have been relocated and re-erected as faithfully as possible and show visitors just how important this machinery was for mining.
It really is a magnificent piece of machinery and engineering, and it’s very sad not to see it operating as it should, in all its glory. We desperately want to raise funds to undertake the much needed repairs.
To find out more information about our current projects and how your Trust can support us, please contact our Fundraising Team at fundraising.manager@ironbridge.org.uk
We would like to gratefully thank all of our supporters who have made a significant difference to our work over the years.