Horsehay
| Horsehay | |
|---|---|
 The All Labour in Vain public house, Horsehay |
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 Horsehay
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| Horsehay shown within Shropshire | |
| Population | 4,292 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SJ675075 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Telford |
| Postcode district | TF4 |
| Dialling code | 01952 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Shropshire |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Horsehay is a village on the western outskirts of Dawley, which, along with several other towns and villages, now forms part of the new town of Telford in Shropshire, England. Horsehay lies in the Dawley Hamlets parish, and on the northern edge of the Ironbridge Gorge area.
Its name is Anglo-Saxon for 'an enclosure for horses'. Horsehay used to have four pubs, The Station Inn, The Forester Arms, the All Labour In Vain and the Travellers Joy, however The Station Inn closed down in 2012. It also has a Methodist Chapel, a village hall, a post office, and a golf course complete with restaurant.
Originally Horsehay was nothing more than a farm, until the 1750s when Abraham Darby II built a blast furnace next to what is now known as Horsehay Pool. The Coalbrookdale Company further developed the area, constructing brickworks and later a pottery in 1838. Coalbrookdale specialised in the smaller and more decorative ironwork pieces, whereas Horsehay produced many larger scale products, including the railway bridge in nearby Shifnal. As the iron trade in the area began to slump, in 1857 the railway arrived. Horsehay is still home to the Telford Steam Railway to this day. A.B. Cranes bought the site previously occupied by the ironworks to manufacture some of the largest cranes in Europe until it closed down in 1983. The site has been transformed into both a small factory estate and a housing estate. The houses which were kept for the ironworks employees were clustered around Horsehay Pool in Spring Village, and they are still lived in today.
Horsehay works has a history of more than 230 years on the same site. Formed in 1755 by Abraham Darby II it contributed to the birth of the industrial revolution through large scale production of iron. Later it produced pre-fabricated bridges for export all over the world. It was a major employer in the area until the mid-1980s when it closed under the ownership of Adamson Alliance.
The following is based on an article "Horsehay Works (1755 - 1986) - a history of a once dominating company") by J. L. Woolley (local artist and former employee of Horsehay Works):
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