Topic: Identify the 37 glassworks existing in 1696 in England and Wales

[Anne]

As a breakaway from the post about the Glassworks in Swansea here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,17546.0.html I'd like to pursue trying to identify the 37 glassworks in England and Wales in 1696. Please add to the list and we can try and put together record of who, where these early glassworks were.

Interestingly, Sir Richard Mansel *, was awarded the country-wide monopoly for glass-making in England in 1617, but this lapsed at the beginning of the English Civil War, though, after the return of King Charles II, some noblemen did try to revive the monopoly without success.

* Note: Sometimes also seen as Mansell

Marcus also sent me these to start the list off:

London:

Aldgate, Old Broad Street, Crosswall Street, Bankside

John Baker's Vauxhall works, which may be the antecedent of Nazeing Glass

John Bellingham,  also at Vauxhall

Duke of Buckingham's works at Vauxhall and Greenwich.

Gloucestershire:

Woodchester, Newent, Newham upon Severn and Gloucester,

Midlands:

Amblecote, Wordsley and Brierley Hill.

[KevinH]

In Glassmakers of Stourbridge and Dudley 1612-2002 by Jason Ellis, there is a reference in Chapter 8 (which covers Colemans Glasshouse, Lye) to a Chelwood Glasshouse in Somerset set up by Paul Tyzack and two partners after a fire destroyed the Colemans company in 1658. The Chelwood glasshouse was probably set up around 1660 and

appears in John Houghton's 1696 list as one of three glasshouses in Somerset making bottles and window-glass.

So, perhaps the Swansea Heritage website reference is based on the Houghton list of 1696? Maybe it would be worthwhile going back to the folk at Swansea to check this. Anyone happen to have access to the Houghton 1696 list? That would seem to be the best way to solve the question of what glasshouses were around at that time.

In the meantime, I could try to extract references to glasshouses existing in 1696 from the details in Ellis's book. Might take a while, though!

[Anne]

Source:
Ferrybridge Glassworks, Some Facts and Theories, by Terry Spencer. BA (Hons), Ph D.

In 1696, John Houghton stated that there were three glasshouses in existence in Yorkshire
"…two near Silkstone and one near Ferrybridge."(18)

http://www.knottingley.org/history/ferrybridge_glassworks.htm

[Anne]

https://secure.societyofglasstechnology.org.uk/cgi-bin/mi.cgi?pplace=10&sessionid=9106&page=Books

Old English Glass Houses by Francis Buckley, published by the Society of Glass Technology, 2003
The write up for this book states:

John Houghton, an eminent member of the Royal Society, wrote a series of Letters to Parliament under the general title of “Husbandry and Trade Improvement”. Letter Number 198, dated 15th May 1696 listed all the glass works in England and Wales which were working at that time, around 90 in total.

so now it's 90 glassworks, not 37!

[KevinH]

Maybe the Buckley book would be a good purchase ... but when I tried the "buy" link in the site it gave a "serious error"!

However, I have had a quick look through several books and found four in particular that mention the John Houghton 1696 list and give some (or very brief) comment on glasshouses in that period. The books are:
- Glass-Making In England by H. J. Powell, 1923
- From Broad-Glass to Cut Crystal, A History of The Stourbridge Glass Industry by D. R. Guttery, 1956
- British Table and Ornamental Glass by L. M. Angus-Butterworth, 1956
- Glassmakers of Stourbridge and Dudley 1612-2002 by Jason Ellis, 2002 ISBN 1-4010-6799-9 / ... 6798-0

Powell comments in Chapter VI that the Houghton details showed 26 glasshouses in and around London. In Chapter VII, for the provinces, Powell reports Houghton as 11 glasshouses in Newcastle, 9 in Bristol (and district), and 17 in the Stourbridge area. That makes a total for the Houghton lists of 37 provincial and 26 London, being a grand total of 63. But Powell's book only covers England, of course, and therefore excludes any in Wales that Houghton listed.

Guttery states 88 glasshouses were on the Houghton lists with 24 in London district, 11 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 17 in Stourbridge. That differs from Powell by 2 less for London. Again, no comments on Wales.

Angus-Butterworth tells us that Houghton listed 9 glasshouses in Bristol, which agrees with the figure from Powell.

So, the maximum from those sources is 88 (Guttery), but add on the 2 extra that Powell stated for London and we get 90 as per Anne's findings earlier.

Now, what does Ellis say for Stourbridge? Well, his book is basically a chronological listing of the glasshouses. Listing the ones extant in 1696 we get:
- Ridgrave Glasshouse, Hungary Hill founded between 1612 and1630 closed c1810 (or later)
- Holloway End Glasshouse, Amblecote c1623 - ? 18th/20th cent.
- Henzey's Brettell Lane Glasshouse c1630 - c1720
- Bague's Glasshouses, Bretttell Lane c1640 - 1886
- Withymoor Glasshouse, Amblecote 1666 - c1723
- Hawbush Glasshouse, Brettell Lane 1674 - c1733 (or later?)
- Hagley Glasshouse pre-1678 - c1716
- Jacob's Well Glasshouse, Audnum 1682 - c1715
- Heath Glassworks, Stourbiridge pre-1685 - 1882
- Fimbrell Glasshouse, Amblecote 1687 - c1750
- Harlestones Glasshouse, Coalbournbrook c1692 - ?1783 (or later)
- Coalbournehill Glassworks, Amblecote 1691 - (?) [eventually Webb Corbett until 1999]

That's only 12 for the Stourbridge area in 1696, so what happened to the other 5 that Powell and Guttery said were on the Houghton lists? Perhaps my assessment from the book is incorrect? Or maybe there is another explanation, hinted at by Guttery ...

... John Houghton likely gained much of his information via correspondenece and perhaps in listing glasshouses by type of glass made (broad-glass; bottles; flint, green & ordinary) he counted the same glasshouse more than once.

Ellis's book does offer names of other glasshouses outside of Stourbridge, as part of the biographical details but I have not studied those references in relation to 1696.

What I did note from Angus-Butterworth was that the glass tax imposed in 1695, to fund the war with France at that time, apparently caused the closure of many glass furnaces. In 1699 the tax was repealed and glassworks began to reform again. Therefore, Houghton's lists were only a snaphot of glassworks that still existed after the tax had been imposed.

What does this all mean?
I have no idea!
But there are 12 named glasshouses in there as a starting point, plus the Chelwood one I mentioned before. Just 77 (possibly) to go!
 

[Frank]

Buckleys book was published in 1925 so is not necessarily correct, it will appear in the Glass-Study in due course.

The SGT have published it as a POD book, interestingly while you can still buy it at list price it sell second hand often for more than it is produced. Odd as surely price is dependant on demand and supply and supply is unlimited!

[flying free]

Quote '- Harlestones Glasshouse, Coalbournbrook c1692 - ?1783 (or later)'


It appears from this article that Harlestones glasshouse fell down (literally) in 1785
http://www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/ancestral-delvings-reveal-clearcut-links-wordsleys-ancient-glass-industry/story-20120354-detail/story.html

'By this time, the Harlestones Glassworks were becoming dilapidated, and in 1785 it was reported that "the glasshouse of Mr George Ensell of Coalbournbrook fell almost entirely in ruins to the ground."
Read more at http://www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/ancestral-delvings-reveal-clearcut-links-wordsleys-ancient-glass-industry/story-20120354-detail/story.html#tk5D4BFbyzJI2Dmh.99'

However, there are some odd date discrepancies in the story otherwise (might be print errors).

[SocGlassTech]

SGT collected Buckley's papers from Journal of the Society of Glass Technology into one volume, Old English Glasshouses
Contents:
Note on the Glasshouses of the Leeds District in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Early Nineteenth Centuries   1
Glasshouses on the Wear in the Eighteenth Century   14
Glasshouses on the Tyne in the Eighteenth Century   24
The Early Glasshouses of Bristol   67
Old Nottingham Glasshouses   107
Cumberland Glasshouses   113
Notes on the Glasshouses of Stourbridge   117
The Glasshouses of Dudley and Worcester   145
The Birmingham Glass Trade: 1740�1833   155
Old London Glasshouses. I. Southwark   174
Notes on Various Glasshouses   194
West Country Glasshouses   204
Old Lancashire Glasshouses   213

[sph@ngw]

May I add a note about The Falcon Stairs glass works that has just come to my attention?
AKA Falcon Glass WQorks
to the South East of Blackfriars bridge at what used to be a Thames crossing , the Falcon Stairs ( near Flacon Inn pub).
Founded by Francis Jackson and John Shaw in 1693, making " the best and finest drinking glasses and curious glassess for ornament and likewise all sorts of glass bottles" In 18th c the first glass house was known as "The Falcon" and the bottle house as "the Cockpit".
The well known London glass cutter Jerom Jackson was associated with these works in 1757,perhaps as a partner. It is probable that the works were taken over by  Hughes, Hall and Company in 1752 and remained in use until 1780. Stephen Hall then left Falcon Stairs and for the Whitefriars Glasshouse and the " Cockpit" was abandoned.
Although not named as the Falcon Glass House, between 1752-1768 a glass house was run by William Barnes & Company. Flint glass (ie lead was made there  from 1774).
it was closed in 1814, when Green & Pellat then owners, moved to Holland Street by the Blackfriars Road.Excavations unearthed a mid 18th C furnace, siege, and associated buildings foundations.

It is believed that Stephen hall, was father of Henry hall, who daughter Caroline married  Charles Henry Kempton III
He taught him to make glass  at Paradise Street  which became the  Albert Glass Works.

[sph@ngw]

As a breakaway from the post about the Glassworks in Swansea here http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,17546.0.html I'd like to pursue trying to identify the 37 glassworks in England and Wales in 1696. Please add to the list and we can try and put together record of who, where these early glassworks were.
 * Note: Sometimes also seen as Mansell
Anne,
With great respect there are in fact 88 glass houses identifed in the year 1696 on page 457 pf Albert Hartshorne' "Englsih Glasses" of which I have recentl; acquired a rare First edition.
They are headed as "Houghton's Letters For the Improvement of Commerce and Trade First published in 1683 AND UPDATED 1696.
THEY ARE LISEDT BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA, SO LONDON & SOUTHWARK HAVE 24, AND THEN ARE BROKEN DOWN BY , 9 FOR BOTTLES, 2 FOR LOOKING GLASS PLATES , 4 CROWN GLASS AND PLATES, 9 FLINT GLASS AND ORDINARY,
The remaining 64 are then given by county , so Stourbridge Worcestershire has 17. I was amused to see one in The Isle of Wight, and of course at Kings Lynn, and 11 in Newcastle.


Marcus also sent me these to start the list off:

London:

Aldgate, Old Broad Street, Crosswall Street, Bankside

John Baker's Vauxhall works, which may be the antecedent of Nazeing Glass

John Bellingham,  also at Vauxhall

Duke of Buckingham's works at Vauxhall and Greenwich.

Gloucestershire:

Woodchester, Newent, Newham upon Severn and Gloucester,

Midlands:

Amblecote, Wordsley and Brierley Hill.