Kate Round

Glass Decorating, Stuart Crystal at The Red House Glass Cone

Glass Decorating, Stuart Crystal at The Red House Glass Cone. The hot side of the industry in the Red House Glass Cone was where the glass was blown and shaped. The annealed pieces left the shrower washed and inspected for quality as a blank, ready for the cold side of the industry, where some ofContinue reading “Glass Decorating, Stuart Crystal at The Red House Glass Cone”

Making Glass

Stuart Crystal Tableware was made here at The Red House Glass Cone for over 150 years. The fine lead crystal was hand-blown and crafted by skilled glass-makers to Stuart’s own secret composition; thus, ensuring consistent quality. The lead content in the melt was unique to each glasshouse and guaranteed a constant weight and brilliance inContinue reading “Making Glass”

Sarah Worral 1722-1799, Glassmaker!

Audnam Glassworks, Stourbridge. 1753-1799 Sarah Worral, a successful Glassmaking businesswoman, in a time when it was said ‘women were not allowed in the glasshouse, it was an all-male preserve’ After reading of Sara Vincx who in 1595, following the death of her husband, ran a successful glassmaking business in the City of Antwerp; I wasContinue reading “Sarah Worral 1722-1799, Glassmaker!”

Gray-Stan Glass 1922-1936

Elizabeth Graydon-Stannus 1873-1961 Create and replicate or forgery and fraud? ‘The excellence of the forgery may be fairly adduced as an argument that it is not a forgery at all’ Elizabeth Graydon Stannus was born in Ireland in 1873, she married in 1895 to a Colonel in the British Army who was later killed inContinue reading “Gray-Stan Glass 1922-1936”

Red House Glass Cone a Tour Inside

Take a walk with me around the inside of this unique structure. It is one of only four in the country, and the only complete cone, where you can watch glass being made on a daily basis. Based on the revolutionary 19th century technology of a blast furnace, it changed glass-making from a simple ‘forest-glass-making’Continue reading “Red House Glass Cone a Tour Inside”

Stourbridge Red House Glass Cone Outside Tour

A short audio tour to introduce you to the site of the iconic Red House Glass Cone, in Wordsley, Stourbridge. This is a Grade II listed building that was the home of the famous Stuart Crystal lead-crystal tableware. Now open to the public as a museum, it preserves and showcases the history, architecture, and heritageContinue reading “Stourbridge Red House Glass Cone Outside Tour”