MADELEY  , a

market town in the municipal borough of Wen-lock, and the Wellington (Mid) parliamentary division of Shropshire, England, 159 M . N.W. from London, with stations on the London & North Western (Madeley Market) and Great Western railways (Madeley Court) . Pop. of civil parish (19o1), 8442 . There are large ironworks, ironstone and coal are mined, and potter's clay is raised . The church of St Michael (r 796) replaced a Norman building . The living was held from 176o to 1783 by John William Fletcher or de la Flechere, a close friend of the Wesleys . The parish includes a portion of Coalbrookdale (q.v.), and the towns of Ironbridge and Coalport . IRONBRIDGE, a town picturesquely situated on the steep left bank of the Severn, adjoins Madeley on the south-west . It takes its name from the iron bridge of one span crossing the river, erected in 1779 . This bridge is a remarkable work considering its date; it was probably the first erected, at any rate on so large a scale, and attracted great attention . It is the work of Abraham Darby, the third of the name, one of the famous family of iron-workers in Coalbrookdale . Here are brick and tile works and lime-kilns .

There is a station (Ironbridge and

Broseley) on the Great Western railway, across the river . COALPORT lies also on the Severn, S. of Madeley and 2 M . S.E. of Ironbridge, with a station on the Great Western railway . It has large china works, founded at the close of the 18th century, which subsequently incorporated those of Caughley, across the Severn, and of Nantgarw in Glamorganshire .