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Crossing the Severn: the river map

Fords, ferries and bridges plotted upstream to downstream. Filter by type, then select a crossing to read about it and see the photographs held for it.

BUILDWASAPLEY PARKBuildwas ford and ferryFORDBuildwas BridgeBRIDGEAlbert Edward BridgeBRIDGEThe Meadow FerryFERRYBenthall Edge FerryFERRYThe Ironbridge fordFORDThe Iron BridgeBRIDGEMadeley Wood ferryFERRYThe Free BridgeBRIDGETuckies ferryFERRYCoalport & Jackfield Memo…BRIDGECoalport passage boatFERRYDog & Duck ferry landingINNCoalport BridgeBRIDGEApley Park ferriesFERRY

Schematic — positions are ordered upstream to downstream, not to scale. Source: Broseley Local History Society, February 2010.

Select a crossing on the map to read about it.

The source map

The Broseley Local History Society plotted the crossings against the bridges in their February 2010 newsletter. Our schematic follows their sequence.

Fords and ferries of the Severn Gorge

2010

Drawn up in 2010, this schematic map plots every recorded ford and ferry across the Severn Gorge against the line of the later road and rail bridges, stretching from Buildwas down to Apley Park. Seen together like this, the sheer number of crossings reveals just how central the river once was to daily local life.

Broseley Local History Society newsletter, February 2010

The newsletter map as published

February 2010

This is the map as it originally appeared in the Broseley Local History Society newsletter of February 2010, showing the historic river crossings set against the positions of the later bridges. Newsletter publications like this one have quietly preserved a great deal of local ferry history that might otherwise have been lost.

Broseley Local History Society newsletter, February 2010

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