In 1709, Abraham Darby’s method of iron-ore smelting, at his Coalbrookdale foundry, made him a pioneer in the Industrial Revolution. The new technology enabled inventors, industrialists and designers to create a world of factories, railways and mass production. Josiah Wedgwood,Thomas Telford, the Stephensons married design and modernity that was reputed across Europe. The Iron Bridge across the Severn (1776), the Crystal Palace opened by Queen Victoria in1851, exemplified their genius.