Charles Bage

(1751–1822) was an English architect, born in a Quaker family[1] in Derby, Derbyshire, in the United Kingdom.

He was the designer of the first ever iron framed building, the Ditherington Flax Mill,[2] located in the outskirts of Shrewsbury town centre, built between 1796 and 1797.

[3] Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Elford, Staffordshire, where his father founded a papermill, later becoming a partner in an ironworks.

Throughout his life, Bage took an interest in the application of iron and gas technologies in construction and lighting, respectively.

[4] By 1776, Bage was working as a wine merchant in Shrewsbury, and also as a surveyor, the latter being of interest to John Marshall and Thomas and Benjamin Benyon, who intended to develop mills in the town.