Stuart
Crystal Glassworks and the
Redhouse Cone, Audnam
It has been established that a glassworks on the Stuart & Son's site was established around about 1788 when glassmaker Richard Bradley Ensell bought the land.
The Redhouse became the Stuart Crystal Glassworks when Mr. Stuart purchased the glassworks, where he had worked for fifty years, from Richard Bradley Ensell on his retirement.
Mr. Stuart began his career at this glassworks as an apprentice before becoming a master technician and finally the owner.
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The Redhouse Cone itself is quite spectacular. It stands at 87ft and tapers from 57ft at the base to 10ft at the top. The picture to the left shows the Redhouse Cone, as it is seen today, in its restored condition. |
| The picture on the right shows the Redhouse Cone as it was in 1974. The cone was in need of much restoration and was covered in grass and moss that had taken root in between the brickwork. The gentleman seen standing on the left was Mr William (Bill) Hopton. Bill Hopton was employed as a master glass blower at Stuart's glassworks for most of his life. |
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The outbuildings at Stuart's Glassworks
The Redhouse Cone is now used as a tourist attraction but it originally housed a 12-pot furnace which was in use up until 1939. Around the furnace was the 'dog hole' for pot storage, the pot arch which pre-heated the fireclay pots, an annealing kiln, a metal room where the glass mix ready for the melting into glass was stored, a 'glory hole' where glass was reheated whilst being worked, a second 'glory hole' with another kiln and the coal entrance to the kilns which connected to the canal. Most of these ancillary buildings have since been demolished.
