Floating heritage

Ironbridge Coracle Trust has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for an exciting heritage project, the Ironbridge Coracle Project. This will help secure the future of the last historic coracle maker’s shed in England.

There is a 300-year-old tradition of making and using coracles on the River Severn in Ironbridge, which is in danger of being lost. The grant of £333,000 will help secure the future of the coracle heritage of the Gorge through the shed of the Rogers family.

“The coracle makers of Ironbridge are integral to the heritage of the area, and this important project will ensure that their stories and legacies are not lost to future generations,” said Anne Jenkins of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Dating from the 1920s, the Rogers’ family shed, situated on the bank of the Severn within the World Heritage Site of the Ironbridge Gorge, was bought by the Trust in 2017 with the help of funding from Telford & Wrekin Council’s Community Pride Fund.