Ironwork is iron that has been shaped — often bent, twisted, or cut — into fences, gates, railings, balconies, and other fittings that are meant to look attractive as well as strong. Think of an old garden gate with curls and leaves in the metal, or a balcony with a pattern: that is ironwork. The picture is decorative iron, not a pile of tools in a shed. The word can also cover the iron parts of a building more generally, but learners usually meet it with those handsome fences and gates. People still make ironwork by hand; factories make simpler versions. You can speak of “the ironwork on the gate” the way you speak of woodwork on a door.