The Coalbrookdale Company orders: “Very Urgent: Future orders depend on the delivery of this order.”

Over the past 12 months, the Senior Curator has been cataloguing and researching part of the archive of the Coalbrookdale Company ironworks, in a project made possible through a Headley Fellowship with Art Fund.
The archive contains some 730 orders undertaken by the Coalbrookdale Company in the late 19th - early 20th century for decorative and architectural ironwork such as railings, gates, lamp posts, verandas, fountains and vases. The orders encompass original draughtsman drawings, blueprints, costings and correspondence with clients.
Research into this archive has shed light on what the ironworks was making at this time, who they were making it for, and which workers were involved in the process.