Not far from The Wrekin is the famous Ironbridge Gorge, named after the bridge that stands over the River Severn near Madeley. The geological events that took place here hundreds of millions, and then just tens of thousands, of years ago were what made the Industrial Revolution possible: deposition through geological time resulted in close juxtaposition of iron ore, coal and limestone (the basic ingredients for iron smelting), with a river large enough to facilitate transport of the products. The Gorge itself was carved out by meltwater flooding out from beneath a huge ice sheet that had moved here from the north and west, towards the end of the last ice age, some 17,000 years ago.