Above: Early 19th century view of London looking east from Blackfriars bridge towards London bridge. The smoke stacks of Whitefriars can be seen on the North (left) bank and of Apsley Pellatt on the South Bank.

Welcome to my website devoted to the History of Glass and Glassmaking in London.

Much of the material in this site is completely new or has been gathered from sources otherwise difficult to access.

_____________________________________________________
HEADLINE NEWS AND NEW ENTRIES (August 20th, 2010)

1. The Key Glassworks in New Cross was probably the largest single bottle and jar maker before the formation of United Glass Bottles (UGB) of which it became a part. A new picture and article relating to the running of the Key Glassworks can be found in Glasshouses/ Later and Peripherial Glass Houses and scrolling down to Key Glassworks.

2. The Thames Plate Glass Works operated for 32 years from 1845, surrounded in a loop of the River Lea where it enters the Thames. In a sordid run-down area mainly women polished the plate glass for mirrors. However, the factory deserves a niche in history for casting one of the 28-inch blanks for a telescope located on Wandsworth Common. This lens held the record for size for 18 years. For more info, maps and pictures click Later and Peripherial Glass Houses and then scroll down to Thames Plate Glass Works.

3. New information on the role of saltpetre in the discovery of English lead crystal glass. CLICK on the link opposite:- HOW RAVENSCROFT DISCOVERED ENGLISH LEAD CRYSTAL.

4. See an interesting new article from the United Glass GOODWARE newspaper of 1971 on the problem of iron contamination in cullet. This article can also be found in the Glasshouses/ Later and Peripherial Glass Houses and then scrolling down to United Glass.

5. The entire glass world is concerned about the threatened closure of Broadfield House Glass Museum by Dudley Borough Council and the consequent loss of its unique glass collection - the only one of its kind in the world. The possible transfer of the collection to the Red House Cone site now seems unlikely and there is the added problem that the cone itself has now become unstable and is in danger of collapse. A new organisation, independent of Dudley Borough Council, has been set up by an influential group with the support of major London museums. To access their web site check British Glass Foundation on our LINKS/GLASS CLUBS page.

______________________________________________________

Help us learn more about how glassmaking first developed and later adapted to meet the new industrial challenge facing our capital City.

Do look up my new section on how George Ravenscroft discovered English lead crystal. Click on the label opposite.

My new book, shown on the right, is the first London dominated in the production of elegant cut glass like this creamer, c.1825.account of how and where glassmaking developed in London. Powell’s Glass-making in England in 1923, and several other texts have contributed various aspects of the subject but without bringing them all together to provide a unified picture. With the exception of T&W Ide's factory at Glasshouse Fields (which operated until the late 20th century) and its replacement in Stoke Newington, Rankin Glass, my contribution covers events from the arrival of the first glassmakers in the medieval period up to the later 19th century and the closure of the Pellatt factory.

I describe the book as a travelogue as a main aim is to determine the precise locations of the glasshouses as well as describe what we know about their occupants and what they made. Some are well established,others were not previously known or were wrongly described. Maps and directions are given to help you find the sites. Click on the book to turn over a few pages and get an idea of what the contents are like.

This elaborate jelly mould states round the rim POULTON & NOEL. BELGRAVIA. LONDON.: however, the registration mark tells us that it was made in Manchester in 1883.Glassmaking in London did not end in the 19th century but it did become more orientated to the requirements of our capital and its growing industrial base. There was a need particularly for bottles as well as support for the new industries of gas and electric lighting and radio where London mostly led the way. Not least was the unwelcome interruptions of war with our enemies.

Buried under the soil of London, beneath the medieval period, lies a wealth of artifacts and other information relating to its earlier occupation by the Romans. Mostly, the finds have only been covered piecemeal. Glass often comes a poor second compared with pottery and other material. With the support of Museum of London this website sets out to correct that lack of information and, particularly about how much working of glass was actually carried out in our capital. The results are not just surprising, they are stunning; and this research is still ongoing. Click on the ARCHAEOLOGY button to find out more.

In glassmaking, the stories of the 19th and 20th centuries are hardly touched upon amid growing concerns that the firms involved are gradually fading into obscurity. So a major reason for this site is a cry for help from all those interested. Some factories, from my own research, are given in the section Later and Peripherial Glass Houses but details about them are scant. So dig around your neighbourhoods; send me any information you can find to help build up a fuller picture for us all to enjoy and preserve for the future. All contributions will, of course, be acknowledged unless you wish otherwise.

AN OUTLINE OF THE BACKGROUND

Historians nowadays distinguish between glassworking, reheating preformed glass cullet, and glassmaking, founding glass from the raw materials of sand and ashes. The first use of glass as described by the Venerable Bede from AD 672 in Monkswearmouth and Jarrow, and later in Whithorn on the west coast of Scotland, and the great northern cathedrals such as Durham all seem to be examples of glassworking using preformed glass brought from as far away as the Middle East. The furnace required for glassworking was a much less substantial structure working at a lower temperature that for glass making. This may explain why we know that that glass was worked there but cannot find evidence for a proper glass furnace. The same problem exists relating to glass finds of this period in Kent. Originally the glass was all though to be imported but now it is certain that some was made there.

Britain had changed a lot by the time we reach the 13th century some 500 years later. It had been united under one King since William the Conqueror who controlled the country with an iron fist. The King's seat was in London so it is not surprising that when glassmaking first came to Britain, probably in the 13th century, it started in the south of England. London was not only the capital city it had by far the largest and well organised population.

The King was all-powerful and nothing could take place without his knowledge and his approval.

Further, the Port of London provided extensive docks for visiting ships providing ready and regular contact with the continent, particularly Holland with its great trading centre of Amsterdam and Fairs for the barter and purchase of all the necessities of life.

From the beginning of the sixteenth century, alongside a steady improvement in the quality of life - at least for the wealthier classes - the growth of ecclesiastical buildings and the expansion of building stately homes created a massive demand for glass windows and to a lesser extent for drinking glasses and tableware. This was met at first by imports from the Continent and subsequently by a new home industry.

Goblet, dated 1578, made by Jacob Verzelini after his Crutched Friars glass house had burned down in 1575.Religious conflict on the Continent and the creation by Henry VIII, in 1534-6, of the Church of England, independent from Rome, encouraged disillusioned protestant glassmakers to settle in England. Initially progress was slow because the broad window glassmakers were required to teach Englishmen contrary to their family vows of secrecy. This aspect may have been over-emphasized in history as other glassmakers prospered, particularly Jacob Verselini a maker of tableware. Within two generations and by the end of the century the industry flourished beyond expectation.

A problem with the glassmakers was that their intensive use of wood conflicted with the requirements of the essential ship building (as many as 200 full-grown trees were required to build one ship)and iron founding industries dependent on charcoal. In 1613 the invention of a new type of coal-fired furnace made it possible for the King to ban wood-fired furnaces in favour of coal. Exactly what the new coal-fired furnace looked like is one thing that we would dearly like to know and, in conjunction with this, the date when the closed pot was introduced. Both are matters of speculation to which there are no unambiguous answers.

A seven year monopoly to exploit the new furnace was awarded to a courtier, Edward Lord Zouch in association with three colleagues including the inventor, Thomas Purcivall. Two years later, in 1615, a total monopoly of the industry was transferred to London-based Vice-Admiral, Sir Robert Mansell. It lasted until he retired in 1642.

Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire dating from 1570: The mullion and transom windows indicate "modernisation" from the medieval curve-topped single windows made possible by the more ready availability of window panes in England.Under his command, and with the help of his talented wife when he was away fighting pirates, the industry expanded in a controlled manner dedicated initially to supplying window glass for London and the King.

Thanks to the the provision of coal and a suitable clay for the glasshouse pots the expansion grew to encompass the Midlands round Manchester, Birmingham and Stourbridge, and also Newcastle and Sunderland in the North. The new (from about 1650) strong English dark glass bottle underpinned a massive industry that took their products all over the world. The production of window glass, by both the broad and spun processes, grew to meet the demand created by the increased building and modernisation of stately homes, ecclesiastical buildings and educational centres.

Posset pot made by Ravenscroft, c. 1676: The Ravenscroft seal at the base of the spout is a guarantee that his new lead crystal glass will not crizzle and decay.After Mansell's death, during the years of the Commonwealth under Cromwell, the industry to some extent stagnated (particularly that for eclesiastical stained glass windows, although not necessarily that for secular stained glass) only to be revitalised by the Restoration of Charles II to the throne. The Duke of Buckingham and other courtiers were effectively responsible for bringing glassmaking into the capital itself. Later, the invention/discovery of English lead crystal by Ravenscroft and his glassmaker da Costa, in 1674, not only gave England an industrial lead over the Continent for the next century but also (and no less important) has today enabled collectors and historians to distinguish English glass manufactures from that period and how they developed. As we progress through the 19th century, glassmaking, already in decline in London, found expansion into the provinces mentioned above a more commercially rewarding activity. But, alongside the might of Whitefriars, and to a lesser extent the already declining Pellatt factory, numerous glassmaking enterprises, both small and large, either remained or emerged to take their place.