The new National Trust signage
Two of our prints on display

Broseley Pipe Factory Open Day and a meeting with the National Trust

18th September 2026

Ironbridge

Up early for the 120-mile drive to pretty Broseley in Shropshire, perched on the southern banks of the River Severn. In 1779, the world's first iron bridge was built across the Severn, linking Broseley with Coalbrookdale and helping to make the Ironbridge Gorge the driving heart of the Industrial Revolution. It is a remarkable landscape of industrial archaeology, handsome red-brick riverside villages and beautiful countryside – and I love every trip we make there.

Particularly special is the little nineteenth-century tobacco pipe factory in a row of brick terraces on the edge of Broseley, widely regarded as one of the most remarkable industrial time capsules in the country. Opened in 1820 and originally owned by the Southorn family, this Grade II listed factory was once home to some of the country's most prolific clay tobacco pipe makers, famous for their "churchwardens" and exporting millions of Broseley pipes around the world.

Following the sharp decline in demand for clay pipes after the World War, production at the Crown Works gradually dwindled and the factory was eventually abandoned in 1957. The doors were simply locked at the end of the last working day and never re-opened. Tools, machinery, moulds, paperwork and other contents were left just as they had been, creating an extraordinary snapshot of a once-thriving industry.

In 1991, under the leadership of then Master Tony Ostick, our Company launched a remarkable Appeal for Funds which helped to raise nearly £46,000 to ensure that the pipe works and its historic contents would be preserved for future generations. It eventually opened as a museum on 14 September 1996, as part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Past Master Stephen Preedy represented then Master Roger Merton and the Company at the opening, and other members, including Past Master John Adler, were guests.

In March this year, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, with its ten museums, 35 listed buildings and some 400,000 historic artefacts, was taken over by the National Trust, supported by a Government grant of £9 million.

We retain a particularly strong connection with the Broseley Pipe Works – not only because it is such a wonderful little museum of our craft, but also because it houses our collection of 46 antique prints relating to clay pipe smoking together with a collection of tobacco jars and boxes, all bequeathed to the Company from the estate of Elia Salzman in 1964.

Last year, the IGMT took the difficult decision to close the Pipe Works due to lack of funds. There is now renewed hope for its future, however, with the National Trust actively considering how the museum might be reopened more regularly for visitors as a central part of the Ironbridge Gorge group of museums.

As part of that process, the Trust arranged two Heritage Open Weekends this month. So Past Master Henry Tuck, Honorary Freeman Carolyn Tuck and I made our way to Broseley for one of the pre-booked tours, led by Linda – a great friend of the legendary pipe maker Rex Key and herself a capable pipe maker.

It was great fun. A dozen of us, all fascinated by the building and its history, as well as pipe making, were able to step inside this extraordinary time capsule and learn more about the traditional craft of making a Broseley pipe. There is something particularly satisfying about seeing our craft's history not simply preserved in a display case, but in the very place where the craft was practised with such skill and dedication - and success! A bonus was that Oliver Meeson, clay pipe maker, was once again on site to demonstrate the craft to visitors.

Afterwards, we travelled on to the Coalport China Works to meet the National Trust team working hard to transform Ironbridge so that the site continues to be a wonderful reminder of the Industrial Revolution, enabling the Pipe Works Museum to open more regularly and, importantly, hopefully allowing Oliver Meeson to continue his demonstration work.

We all left feeling positive about the future of the Pipe Works, although there is a healthy list of action points to work through. A recent kind donation by the Southorn family of saggars full of thousands of unfired clay pipes that were removed from the factory many years ago shows that there is much historic material still to rediscover.

It was a long drive home, but it was good to feel that this remarkable little piece of our Company's heritage has a future to look forward to. And next time we return, perhaps the Pipemaker's Arms in Broseley which is currently undergoing renovation will have been re-opened and is thriving once again!