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Lemington Glass Works was the site of
glass production Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...
in
Lemington Lemington is an area and electoral ward in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. History Lemington has a strong industrial history. It is famous for its brick glassworks cone, built in 1787. The River Tyne used to pass ...
,
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, England, for over 200 years. All that remains now is its iconic last glass cone, a famous local landmark.


History

Lemington Glass Works were opened in 1787 by the Northumberland Glass Company in the village of Lemington west of Newcastle upon Tyne. The land was leased to them by the
Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of N ...
. At first their four large cones only produced flat glass. The location of the works was ideal for local coal supplies, with the North Wylam to Lemington Point Waggonway running within very close proximity to the works. It was also situated beside the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
(prior to its rerouting in 1876) which made it easy to bring sand, alkali, and suitable clay for the melting pots to the works. In 1837 three of the glass cones were demolished as the Northumberland Glass Company relinquished their ownership of the works. Between 1838 and 1845 the glass works were owned by Joseph Lamb & Co. After this period there was a decline in the glass industry and operations at Lemington were further reduced. Between 1898 and 1906 the works were owned by Sowerby & Co, which led to full scale glass production being reinstated in the works. In 1906 ownership passed to the
General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...
, who expanded the works and adapted it for the production of
light bulb Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James Bay * Electric Light ( ...
s and
glass tube Glass tubes are mainly cylindrical hollow-wares. Their special shape combined with the huge variety of glass types (like borosilicate, flint, aluminosilicate, soda lime, lead or quartz glass), allows the use of glass tubing in many applications. Fo ...
s. During the 1950s there was an introduction of new furnaces and machinery, followed by another decline, resulting in machine production being halted. In 1977 Amber Films made a film of the works called "''Glassworks''", which included various aspects of commercial glass manufacture; tube drawing by hand, the manufacture of a melting pot on the premises, and the dramatic pot changing process. In 1997 production of glass in the works was stopped. It was the last working glassworks of its type. With closure, all buildings except for the cone were demolished.


The Glass Cone

The only surviving element of the former glassworks site is a large
English bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...
brick-built glass cone, standing over high, and in diameter. This particular cone was built in 1797 and was the largest of the works' four cones, having been constructed from an estimated 1.75 million bricks. In the south and west sides of the cone are five segmental arches, with two smaller arches to the north. A door has been inserted on the northwest side because the cone is now used as a showroom by car manufacturer
Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...
and Stanegate Stoves. It is still owned by GB Glass Bulbs Ltd. This imposing structure is one of the most important industrial monuments in the North East and is a Grade II* listed building. The survival of this cone is one of only four such survivals in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The other surviving cones can be found in
Wordsley Wordsley is a suburban village near Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and is north of the River Stour. Wordsley is part of the Kingswinford and South Staffordshire Parliamentary constitu ...
in the West Midlands, Catcliffe in
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
and
Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...
in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The cone was cleaned and reappointed in 1993 by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and
Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local authority for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear in North East England. Newcastle has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. ...
.


See also

{{commons category *
Lemington Lemington is an area and electoral ward in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. History Lemington has a strong industrial history. It is famous for its brick glassworks cone, built in 1787. The River Tyne used to pass ...
*
Lemington Power Station Lemington Power Station was a small, now demolished coal-fired power station, located in North East England. It was situated on the Lemington Gut, a backwater of the River Tyne, at Lemington, west of Newcastle upon Tyne. The station's main bu ...
* Stella power stations


References

Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Grade II* listed buildings in Tyne and Wear