History Walk At Coalbrookdale Denniston

Coalbrookdale was named by Julius Haast after a mining village in Shropshire, England.

It is said that it was there that the industrial revolution started for mining in England. It was also there that the first Ironbridge was made, again a name duplicated on the Plateau.

With the mining company providing free transport for building materials from Conn's Creek and the miners wanting to live as near to their place of work as possible, houses sprang up wherever space allowed.

Part of the Coalbrookdale settlement was known as Poverty Point. This was where the single men lived in manuka and canvas shelters because of the scarcity of building materials. Most of all however because the mine entrance was just across the road, saving a long walk to work in sometimes atrocious weather conditions.