Moira Furnace is a nineteenth-century iron-making blast furnace located in Moira, Leicestershire on the banks of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal. Built by the Earl of Moira in 1804 the building has been preserved by North West Leicestershire District Council as a museum featuring lime kilns and craft workshops.
It is a most important industrial monument, since it is remarkably well-preserved, and dates from a formative period of the Industrial Revolution.
Moira Furnace was a coke-fuelled, steam-engine blown blast furnace for the smelting of iron from local iron ore, with an attached foundry for the manufacture of cast-iron goods.
The preserved furnace consists of the blast furnace, the attached bridgehouse, and the loading ramp. The blast furnace is the vertical structure with the blank arches at the lowest part of the site. The furnace within was supplied with raw materials (iron ore, coke, and limestone) by tipping them in through a charging port at the top, accessed from the bridgeloft. The loading ramp, which spans the Ashby Canal, allowed the raw materials to be raised into the bridgeloft, which comprises the top floor of the bridgehouse, the large building with the pitched roof behind the furnace. In the bridgeloft the materials were probably weighed and, maybe, mixed
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Every effort is made to make sure that all the information is correct but we strongly recommend that you call Moira Furnace before you set off on your day out to confirm opening times and admission prices.
Please also note that the position on Google maps for Moira Furnace is a rough estimate using their postcode in the database and might be slightly out.
It may also be worth clicking the web link for Moira Furnace to see if there are any special events coming up or currently on.
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