A Fruit of the Art of Fire: The Glass Industry in Britain

Miller, Ian

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of glass manufacture in Britain, with a focus on its transition from craft-working status in the sixteenth century to the industrial mass production of the nineteenth century. It uses evidence for innovation from archaeological investigations, especially below-ground remains of furnaces, to illustrate the development and progress of the industry not otherwise recorded. This includes the shift from wood to coal to gas as fuel supplies. The remains reviewed include those of the three main types of production: bottle glass, ornamental and table glass, and window glass. Each needed a different type of furnace and ancillary process buildings, and these can be clearly identified in the archaeological record.

Citation

Miller, I. (2022). A Fruit of the Art of Fire: The Glass Industry in Britain. In The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Archaeology (227–254). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199693962.013.17

• Publication Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 227–254
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Archaeology
• Chapter Number: 15
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199693962.013.17