Blists Hill Victorian Town
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Blists Hill was an industrial region of Shropshire, England consisting of a brick and tile works, blast furnaces and coal, iron and fire clay mines operated by the Madeley Wood Company in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Opened in 1973, the Blists Hill Victorian Town was built as an open-air "living" museum on a former industrial complex located on 52 acres of land. The museum recreates a Victorian Shropshire Town from the late 19th and early 20th centuries complete with homes, shops, and places of work. There are three major areas: the town area, the ironworks area, and the countryside area.
The museum includes a Victorian pharmacy, post office and stationers, grocers, blacksmiths, bank, grocer and sweet shop, fish dealer, undertakers, and butchers; there are working blast furnaces, an iron foundry, stables, and printworks, as well as a school, church, and mine railway. The best part of the experience by far was the typography and design work on the buildings, packaging, and signs; you can visit the working printing shop, see letterpress printing on original machinery, and even buy prints made using the original printing blocks.