Wortley Top Forge

The oldest surviving heavy iron forge in the world

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    • Guided tour
  • News
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  • The Wortley site
    • Wortley through the ages
      • Wortley People in History
      • The Early Years at Wortley Forges
      • The Story of Iron and Steel
    • Our buildings
      • The Forge
        • 3 wheels
        • 2 hammers
        • Air pump
      • The workshops
      • The cottages
        • 1900 kitchen
        • Wash house
        • Privy
    • Our natural environment
      • Picnic areas
      • Nature Trail
    • Photos
      • Engines at the forge
      • Machines at the forge
    • Our collection
      • Our machines
      • Our engines
    • Archive – newsletters
    • Archive – the forge
    • Archive – iron and steel
  • About us
    • Volunteering at Wortley
    • Management statements
    • Conservation statement
  • Railway
    • Narrow gauge
    • 400mm
    • Wortley Top Forge Model Engineers
  • Contact us
    • Disclaimer

Visiting



 

Top Forge is now closed to visitors for the winter

 

Our Christmas Event will be on 14th December 2025 – Details can be found here

 

From 15th March 2026, we will be Open – Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays – From 10am

 

Opening Season – 15th March until 7th November 2026

Opening hours are 10:00am until 4:00 pm.

Admission to the site is £5.00 for Adults, £3.00 for Concessions (O.A.P.s) and £1 for Children (Under 16).

This includes all day parking and a guided tour of the site.

From 11:00am a Model Engineering Group operate the Miniature Passenger Carrying Railway, with steam locomotives operating on most weekends.

Increased or additional chargers may apply on Special Event days and additional attractions.

For an individual or family trip around the Forge we recommend allowing at least an hour and a half although longer may be required on busy days.

 

We have a number of Special Events planned for 2026 – Details can be found here

 

Group visits

The Forge can make special arrangements for Party visits and Special Openings. These can be arranged through our guiding team – Contact us. Please give us as much notice as possible as certain arrangements cannot always be made at short notice.

Coffee, tea and biscuits can be provided for groups, we will need the numbers involved a week before. For Party visits that include refreshments you should allow at least 2 hours to cover a full tour of the Forge and the associated buildings

The charge per person is – £6.00

 

Young Children

There is plenty of room on the site for children to run around safely and places for a picnic and then the train rides.  The Forge guide can show youngsters our working waterwheels and engines.

www.tripswithatot.com includes the Forge in its suggestions.

We have Baby Change facilities

 

Access for coaches

Our main gates are 13ft wide and we have had no problems with large modern coaches bringing parties to Top Forge. Please note some access routes have height restrictions on the approach roads.

Once in the parking area, there is plenty of room for coaches to turn round and wait for their passengers to return.

 

Toilet facilities

The toilets are close to the parking area , making this an ideal pick-up point for coach parties.

 

Notes on Disabled Access

Any would-be visitor who has special access requirements must remember that the Top Forge is a Historic site which is a protected Scheduled Ancient Monument and as such has many historic features that are not built to access modern standards.

The majority of the site is surfaced with grass or gravel.

In wet weather the grass is generally soft and even waterlogged in places.

However, in dry weather when the ground is dry, we believe that wheelchair access is possible to most areas. This may however only be with the assistance of our volunteers, as there are several slopes to be traversed on any route around the site.

The main Forge building has level access everywhere except for the area around the Blower Wheel, where steep steps lead to a platform overlooking the wheel.

Access to the Workshop Buildings (Blacksmiths / Foundry / Joiners’ shop) is by a route following the narrow gauge railway. Once inside the Blacksmiths, the floor is acceptably level. However, steep and narrow steps restrict access into the Foundry and Joiners shop.

There is a disabled Toilet.

 

More things to do around Sheffield

You can see more ideas on things to do around Sheffield in the KAYAK Sheffield Travel Guide.

Wortley Top Forge is administered by the South Yorkshire Trades Historical Trust. Registered charity no 1093233 · Log in