Rare chance for conservators to get up close to Coalbrookdale clock as part of £5.5 million project

The museum, operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, a heritage conservation and education charity, is currently covered in scaffolding while conservation work takes place thanks to funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Work to use lead to weatherproof the clocktower is nearly complete and the base of the tower will then be re-tiled. In April work will take place on the clockface itself. The numbers and hands on the clockface will be regilded, which will require the hands being removed. The diameter of the clockface is 154cm; the large hand is 76cm long and the small hand is 47cm long.

Lucy Oldnall, Conserving the Historic Estate Project Manager, said: ”The conservation work at Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron offers a unique opportunity for museum specialists and conservators to get up close to the clockface and clocktower. It is wonderful to know that we are making improvements to the building that will protect this iconic landmark from the elements for many years to come.”

The work is part of the Conserving the Historic Estate project, a three-year programme of repair and conservation to some 35 internationally important heritage buildings and monuments in the care of the Trust. The work is being funded by £5.5 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund to counter long-term impacts of the pandemic as part of the Cultural Assets Fund. The aim of the Cultural Assets Fund is to safeguard nationally important heritage following the years of disruption due to Covid-19.

Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron remains open while the work takes place and will be open seven days a week from Wednesday 2 April until Sunday 28 September.