The Bristol Glass Industry
This section is under construction and research is continuing.
The above is the base of glasshouse cone and is in Prewett Street (part of the Ramada Plaza hotel) - and is all that is left of a once mighty industry. The cone was originally 120 feet high and was the second cone of the Red Lane glasshouse. The glasshouse was started by Benjamin Perrott and was in operation by 1692 - it would be one of many Bristol glasshouses. By about 1710 it would have had an 80 foot high cone, which enclosed the glass furnace and working area. Perrott made crown window glass, and in the early days probably bottles as well. The Taylor family took over the glasshouse in 1754. The glasshouse continued to make window glass until it finally closed in 1790. The second cone was probably built between 1745 and 1754.
William and Thomas Powell took over the site in 1824 and by 1830 used the area around the old cone for their stoneware pottery. The area around the great cone was let to Proctor's, a fertiliser maker. Powell's business closed in 1906 and the old cone was demolished. The great cone remained until 1936, but by then was cracked, and was reduced in height to the present 30 feet.
A complete glass house cone exists at the Red House Glassworks in Stourbridge.