Tar Tunnel

The Tar Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel located on the north bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge at Coalport, England. It is one of ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums attractions administered by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.

Miners struck a gushing spring of natural bitumen, a black treacle-like substance, when digging a canal tunnel for the Coalport Canal in 1787,^[1] or else digging a level in search of coal.^[2]^[3] The plan, proposed by William Reynolds, was to connect the canal alongside the River Severn to the lower galleries of the mines below the Blists Hill area.^[4] After digging around 3,000 feet (910 m) into the hill the canal project was abandoned in favour of bitumen extraction. A wagonway was constructed in the tunnel to remove coal from the mines in before or during 1796.^[5]^[6]

The tunnel was a great curiosity in the eighteenth century and bitumen still oozes gently from the brick walls today. Bitumen's chief commercial use at the time was to treat and weatherproof ropes and caulk wooden ships, but small amounts were processed and bottled as 'Betton's British Oil', a panacea remedy for rheumatism and scurvy.^[7]^[3] After the canal project was abandoned the Hay Inclined Plane was built instead, its base being alongside the canal basin.

Commercial use of the tunnel ended in 1941 after which is saw some use as a air raid shelter before complete abandonment.^[5]

In 1965 members of the Shropshire Mining Club entered the tunnel and were able to access the first 640 meters of it.^[5] The tunnel was bought by Dawley District council in 1967.^[5]

In the past visitors were provided with hard hats and were able to enter the first 300 feet (91 m) of the brick-lined tunnel as far as an iron gate.^[6] Electric lighting is provided.^[6] Due to a build up of gas in the tunnel, it is unsafe to enter but visitors can still get a view along part of its length from the entrance.^[8]

References

^ Brown, Ivor John; Trinder, Barrie Stuart (1971). The Coalport Tar Tunnel. Wolverhampton: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. OCLC 78219737.
^ J. Huxley (1983). Britain's Onshore Oil Industry. Springer. p. 29. ISBN 1349065978.
^ ^a ^b William Marshall (1818). Western Department. Vol. 2. Board of Agriculture. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ Underground canals shropshirehistory.com, accessed 19 July 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Nevell, Michael (15 September 2023). The Archaeology of Ironbridge Gorge in 20 Digs. Amberley. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-1-3981-1156-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brown, Ivor (1998). "The Mines and Tunnels of the Ironbridge Gorge, Part 6 Blists Hill and the Tar Tunnel, Coalport" (PDF). Below (98.4). Shropshire Caving & Mining Club: 14–15. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
^ "Directions for taking and using Betton's true and genuine British oil" (PDF). 1758.
^ Museum website accessed 26 July 2017.