Evidence of Shropshire's industrial past can be found in both the landscape and the county's museums and archives. For example, the main archive in Shrewsbury (shropshirearchives.org.uk) has original wage books for the Coalbrookdale Company (reference 245/144-145). Coalbrookdale was a particular crucible for change, where iron ore was first smelted using the more easily mined ‘coking coal’, producing cheaper and higher-quality iron in one of the major innovations of the Industrial Revolution. The books, which stretch back to the late 18th century, give the names of the workers, the kind of work they were carrying out, and the payment they received.
Ephemera relating to
