Government announces transfer of 10 museums and 35 listed buildings within UNESCO World Heritage Site to National Trust management.
The trust which operates the Ironbridge Gorge museums is to transfer its assets and operations to the National Trust following a £9m DCMS grant.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site encompasses 10 museums and 35 listed heritage buildings and Scheduled Monuments. All the museum’s assets including its collection, which includes more than 400,000 objects, will be transferred to the National Trust.
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT) has been operating the locations in Shropshire since 1967.The National Trust said the (IGMT) was among operators that had suffered an “ongoing tough economic environment and unprecedented challenges of the last five years”.
The transfer is expected to complete 2 March 2026. The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust will continue to trade up until the point of transfer.
IGMT explained: “The last five years have seen many charities and heritage organisations face funding challenges and the Museum’s trustees have concluded that Ironbridge’s future would be best secured as part of a larger organisation with a national profile.”
It said passes will continue to give visitors entry to the Ironbridge museums after the transfer after which they will also allow access to National Trust places.
The site currently attracts 330,000 visitors annually. Attractions include Blists Hill Victorian Town, the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron and the Old Furnace.
The £9m grant represents a contribution towards the total sum required by the National Trust to ensure the museum’s long-term security and maintain its status as a visitor attraction. A total figure was not disclosed.
The transfer aims to enable the museums to benefit from the National Trust’s recognisable brand and large membership base, the government said.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy added: “I have every confidence that this government support will help the National Trust take this area from strength to strength.”
The National Trust said its long-term aspiration is to grow visitor numbers at Ironbridge Gorge’s museums annually from 330,000 to 600,000 visitors.
Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust, added: “I cannot think of something more at home in the National Trust’s care – an institution built to protect and preserve the things our nation loves on behalf of everyone, everywhere.”
Mark Pemberton, chairman of the board of trustees of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust said the transfer has “secured the long-term future of the Museum” by its transfer to the National Trust.”
It will continue to give you entry to the Ironbridge museums after the transfer, after which pass holders will also gain entry to National Trust places across the country, for the remainder of the pass validity.
The National Trust will take responsibility for: Blists Hill Victorian Town, Enginuity, Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, the Old Furnace, the Darby houses, the Museum of the Gorge, the Ironbridge Tollhouse, the Tar Tunnel, Coalport China Museum, Jackfield Tile Museum and Broseley Pipeworks.
It also covers IGMT’s entire Designated Collection, 35 listed building and Scheduled Monuments, a Library and Archive, Arboretum and the Quaker Burial Ground, as well as the Furnace Kitchen café and restaurant.
