Opposite the wrought ironworks, Mr Monkey found the Blists Hill blast furnaces, which are original and are rather broken. Apparently, if the furnaces hadn't been knocked down, the blowing engine would blow a mighty blast of air across them, which would be a good thing. This process was invented by Abraham Darby, a little up the road in Coalbrookdale.
The BBC History website has a blast furnace animation showing how a waterwheel powered blast furnace worked.
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 23 April 2007