A GRANT of £33,000 will be pumped into Mushet Ironworks to undertake conservation work.

Forest of Dean Local Action Group (LAG) has awarded the grant to the Forestry Commission and the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) who have teamed up to launch the project, to undertake work at the Darkhill and Titanic sites near Coleford.

The work will concentrate on the removal of trees and shrubs from the walls, repairs to the masonry and new interpretation boards to explain the history and importance of the work that took place there. The work will also take into account its importance as a haven for a number of species of butterflies and reptiles.

Kate Biggs, the heritage project officer at Wye Valley AONB, said: "I am very pleased that the LAG has agreed to support this important site. Partnered with Whitecliff Furnace and the development of a project for Gunns Mill, the Forest can really start to shout about the important technological innovations that took place at these industrial sites.

"The industrial heritage of the Forest and Wye Valley, particularly iron making, is just as important as Iron Bridge Gorge but we have not cared for it or interpreted it in the way that they have. Robert Mushet invented tungsten steel at the Titanic and Darkhill Ironworks; how many people locally know that fact?"

Peter Kelsall, planning and environment manager at the Forestry Commission added: "The Forestry Commission is delighted that with the support of the LAG and through our partnerships with the AONB and other organisations and individuals with an interest in local heritage, we can undertake this important restoration and interpretation work.

"This will ensure that sites such as Dark Hill and Titanic are suitably maintained to tell their stories to visitors so that their valuable role in the development of iron and steel technology is more widely known."