Wrockwardine Wood Glass

Wrockwardine Wood, a few miles from the iron making area of the Ironbridge Gorge, was famous for its glass industry.Iron is normally associated with the Ironbridge area, but Wrockwardine Wood, a few miles from Ironbridge, was known for the manufacture of glass. The glassworks was a major industrial enterprise. Its main pieces were not decorative tableware but mass produced bottles for the wine trade. It was a true case of entrepreneurialism being one of the many, and lesser known, enterprises, of William Reynolds, a great iron master and the virtual creator of the Coalport porcelain. Reynolds was always seeking to apply the results of scientific discoveries to industrial processes and particularly to find profitable uses for waste products â?? in particular using slag â??the waste product from iron smelting, which consists largely of silica, a core raw material of glass making (limestone also used in the process was readily available in the area). This ties in very much with the current green agenda and the importance of efficiency and recycling.

Wrockwardine Wood, a few miles from the iron making area of the Ironbridge Gorge, was famous for its glass industry.