Coal and Iron · Part 2

burn or splinter, the physical and chemical properties of iron could be controlled. In the 1770s, John Wilkinson ( - ) made the first iron chairs, vats for breweries and distilleries, and iron pipes of all sizes. In , the third Darby ( - ) built the first iron bridge in the world, in Coalbrookdale, spanning the river Severn*. Wilkinson used cast iron for the first time to make water pipes ( miles of it for the water supply of Paris). The iron industry then came to be concentrated in specific regions as integrated units of coal mining and iron smelting. Britain was lucky in possessing excellent coking coal and high-grade iron ore in the same basins or even the same seams. These basins were also close to ports; there were five coastal coalfields which could deliver their products almost straight into ships. Since the coalfields were near the coast, shipbuilding increased, as did the shipping trade. *This area later grew into the village called Ironbridge. The Cast Iron Bridge near Coalbrookdale , painting by William Williams, . T HE I NDUSTRIAL R EVOLUTION M AP : Britain: The iron industry T HEMES IN W ORLD H ISTORY The British iron industry quadrupled its output between and , and its product was the cheapest in Europe. In , a ton of pig iron needed tons of coal to make it, but by it could be produced by using only tons. By , Britain was smelting more iron than the rest of the world put together.