Which English ironmaster first used coke to smelt iron?

English ironmaster Abraham Darby I was the first to use coke successfully to smelt iron on a commercially viable scale.

In 1709, Darby operated the blast furnace at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire and used coke made from coal instead of traditional charcoal. Coke burns hotter and lasts longer in a blast furnace, while its greater strength allows furnaces to be made larger. Darby's process produced cast iron suitable for making thinner, cheaper cooking pots, helping his business compete with charcoal-based producers.

The change mattered because charcoal required enormous quantities of wood, limiting the expansion of ironmaking. Coke allowed iron production to move closer to coalfields and eventually helped supply the engines, bridges, rails, and machinery of the Industrial Revolution. The wording “first” needs a small historical qualification: earlier experimenters, including Dud Dudley, were associated with attempts to use coal-derived fuel, but Darby is credited with the first successful and sustained coke-smelting operation. His son and grandson later extended the family’s ironmaking legacy, including the famous Iron Bridge.