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18th-century glassworks with 22-metre tunnel uncovered at Aldi site
['Darren Shield']
News and Star | News
Excavators identified five furnaces, historic bottle glass, brick floors, a stone staircase and a 22-metre tunnel in the southern part of the development site.
A post-excavation report prepared by Archaeological Services Durham University said the surviving remains revealed at least three phases in the operation of the glassworks.
Well-preserved brick floors and walls in the northern rooms of the 18th-century glassworks (Image: Archaeological Services Durham University)Large quantities of bottle glass were recovered, including early-to-mid-18th-century forms and evidence of both free-blowing and mould-blowing techniques.
Documentary and map evidence showed that an 1815 plan of Whitehaven marked an 'Old Glass House' in the southern part of the site.
A drone image showing the scale of the excavations (Image: Archaeological Services Durham University)The pottery had been established by 1830.