Routes Around Madeley

Although appearing to be a heavily built up area Madeley has a surprising amount of unspoiled open space. This can be reached by an extensive network of footpaths. We hope you will enjoy using the paths and visiting some of the places of interest.

Historic Madeley

The first recorded historical reference to Madeley dates from 727, when it was purchased by Lady Milburga. She was the Abbess of Much Wenlock Abbey. The Saxon name means, the clearing in the wood. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 Madeley was valued at 50 shillings. The village of Brimidgham, modern day Birmingham, was worth 4 shillings and sixpence. In 1269 Madeley achieved town status with the granting of a charter for a weekly market and an annual fair.

Madeley has a number of listed buildings and sites which reflect its prosperity and historical significance.

Madeley Court

Madeley Court (13) mainly 16th Century with traces of 13th Century fabric, was built as a grange for Wenlock Priory. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was bought in 1554 by Robert Brooke, Speaker of the House of Commons. It stayed in the family until the 18th Century. 17th Century additions include the stone porch, gatehouse, sundial, garden walls and water mill. It was tenanted by Abraham Darby from 1709 until his death in 1717.

Upper House

Upper House (8) in Church Street is said to have been built circa 1621 by Francis Woolfe. The Coach House and Barn was used as a hiding place by the future King Charles 11. He fled from defeat after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Church Street also embraces The Little Haye, probably a two bay medieval hall. There are a number of buildings which include The Old Hall, with coach house, barn and stables. The Old Vicarage, was the home of John Fletcher from 1776 to 1785.

St. Michaels Church

The octagonal church, is one of only two buildings in Telford actually designed by Thomas Telford. It contains the remains of a monument to the Brooke family. In the churchyard there are several cast iron tombs, including those of two ironmasters, William Baldwin and R.R.Anstice. There is also a cast iron tomb chest of John Fletcher, vicar of St. Michael's in the 18th Century. It also contains his wife Mary, a prominent early Methodist lay preacher.

Anstice Memorial Institute

The Fletcher Memorial Methodist Church, a large chapel built in the classical style, was opened in 1841. It replaced the earlier Wesleyan Chapel of 1833 in Church Street. This Chapel had been given to the church when it became too small for its congregation. The Anstice Memorial Institute (9) was built in 1868. It was designed in Italianate style by John Johnson of London, as a memorial to John Anstice. He was proprietor and manager of the Madeley Wood Company.

Chartermasters Row

Both Station Road and High Street record development through the 17th to 19th Centuries. This included timber-framed cottages to the buff-coloured brick houses, terraces, shops and the Victorian market hall. Built in 1870 (now Jubilee House) it is offices of Madeley Parish Council. The upper end of Park Street and Park Lane contain a number of fine houses. These were the homes of the men who operated the local pits under, charter, from the landowners. Indeed part of this area was once known as, Chartermasters Row.

Meadow Colliery

The appearance of modern day Madeley was, probably more than any other area of Telford, shaped by the Industrial Revolution. By the late 18th Century Madeley was a thriving centre of the coal, iron and clay industries. The spoil heaps from former pits still dominate the landscape. The largest remaining, that of the former Meadow Colliery (2) visible for miles around. Many are planted with Scots Pines, the result of a, job creation scheme, during the depression.

Brick Kiln Leasow - Lane Pit

The earliest mines in the area were simply tunnels driven into the hillside following the seams of coal. By the 18th Century deep mines with vertical shafts were being sunk. The first steam pumping engine in 1719 allowed miners to work the deeper, wetter seams. One of these deep mines, the Brick Kiln Leasow, or Lane Pit (1) was the scene of Madeley's worst mining disaster. In 1864 the 'Nine Men of Madeley' the youngest, William Onions, a boy of 12, were killed. Their iron-topped communal grave can be seen in St. Michael's Churchyard.

Baguley's Wind

By the 18th Century the area was crisscrossed by a complex network of tramways. These connected the various pits, lime workings and ironworks. A spectacular relic of this system was Baguley's Wind a 19th Century tramway inclined plane. It connected the Meadow Colliery with Blists Hill Ironworks via the lofty wrought iron lattice Lee Dingle Bridge.

Two similar inclined planes, this time carrying small tub boats, could be found on the Shropshire Canal. These inclines were mainly operated by gravity on a counterbalance system. The weight of a loaded boat being used to raise an empty one in the opposite direction.

Blists Hill

In 1832 The Madeley Wood Company moved its ironmaking operation from Bedlam Furnaces near Ironbridge to Blists Hill (4). It was on the banks of the Shropshire Canal (6). Using limestone from Lincoln Hill and local coal and iron ore these furnaces produce top quality pig iron. They were closed in 1912. The three furnaces of Madeley's other ironworks, the Madeley Court Works, had been closed in 1902.

Victorian Museum

The remains of Blists Hill Ironworks now form a Victorian working museum. It contains many buildings of historical interest. These include the mid to late 19th Century brickworks, canal wharf and the Blists Hill mine. This was worked on alternate weeks for clay and coal. It was also the site of the world's last working wrought iron works. The brick works closed in 1933.

Telford

Modern-day Madeley is a populous and vibrant part of Telford. The (model) residential estates of Sutton Hill and Woodside were among the first to be built in the late 1960s. Madeley's past heritage, however, remains as an enduring reminder of heroic times.

Please remember the following points when using public footpaths:

• Please leave gates as you found them.
• A number of paths cross private land or are near to houses - keep dogs, and children under control. Keep noise to a minimum.
• Take your litter home with you.
• Report any problems, obstructions or suggestions for improvement to STROWP - contact details below. Alternatively, Madeley Parish Council, Jubilee House, High Street, Madeley - telephone. 01952 278001.
  
  

More details of places of interest in the Madeley area can be found in The Madeley Tree Trail. It is a leaflet produced by Madeley Parish Council's Tree Wardens. Copies are available from Jubilee House and Madeley Library.

South Telford Rights of Way Project

Madeley Parish Council is a partner in STROWP. This is a project set up to define and improve access for rights of way. It covers three parishes in the south of Telford. The other partners are Severn Gorge Countryside Trust, Telford and Wrekin Council, Councils of the Gorge, Stirchley and Brookside.

Whenever relevant, waymark discs are used to signify direction - yellow arrows for footpaths, blue arrows for bridleways.

For further information please contact:

Alec Connah
STROWP Project Officer
Progress House
Stirchley
Telford TF3 1FA
Telephone: 01952 525103