The former George & Dragon Inn

Image: © Richard Law Taken: 17 Apr 2017

Originally built in the early 19th century, and given a grade II listing in 1974 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101374357-george-and-dragon-inn-the-gorge#.WRn4LtQrLGg It's now a private house, having closed in the 1970s. The black plaque on the gable wall records that it was used as a temporary mortuary for the nine miners killed in a particularly nasty accident in the local ironstone mine on 27th September 1864. 3 men and 6 boys lost their lives when the mechanism failed, which was bringing them to the surface at the end of their shift. They fell several hundred feet down the shaft, and broke through 6" thick oak beams at the base. There is a recent website telling the story of local life, and of the accident in some detail, at http://www.ninemen.org/the-project/the-background-to-the-nine-men-of-madeley-project/

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