Local Industries
Glass Manufacture
Tutbury was a small township on the edge of the vast Needwood forest, which has since been completely de-forested. The suggestion is that the early glassmakers, who were probably Romans or Roman trained Saxons (and often enforced nomads), set up their furnaces at locations with supplies of wood fuel and reasonable means of communication. They may have established a more permanent furnace in the Tutbury district, because of seemingly limitless supplies of wood.
The skill of glassmaking was well established in 1472, when records existed of a glassmaker named Thomas Wakelyne, who had been in trouble for a poaching at neighbouring Abbots Bromley.
Tutbury glassworks covered an area of 12 acres in Ludgate Street. The factory was built by Mr. Henry Jackson in 1836, but there is evidence that it may date back to about 1812, when blanks were obtained from Birmingham for cutting and there were 22 employees. The premises were acquired by Thomas Webb & Corbett Ltd in 1906, when the head of the firm was Mr. Herbert Webb. It was exclusively engaged in making glass in the form of jugs, tumblers etc. for the licensed victuallers trade. His partner, Mr. G. H. Corbett, subsequently took charge and extended production to include a wide range of decorated ware.
In 1911 Mr. Walter E. Guest was appointed general manager and production was expanded by nearly 300 per cent during the next 28 years, with 80 glass cutters employed at the time of the outbreak of World War II.
Webb Corbett Limited, with works at Stourbridge and Tutbury became a member of the Royal Doulton Group of Companies, well known manufacturers of fine china.
When Royal Doulton sold, Webb Corbett closed in 1981 and some members of the redundant workforce set up two independent companies, Georgian Crystal (now in the former Silk Mill) and Tutbury Crystal on the Ludgate St site.
In 2007, the Tutbury Crystal factory was demolished and the business relocated out of the village, leaving a small factory shop in High St.
The factory before demolishion - 2006
New homes on the site - 2008
The factory shop - 2008
The Silk Mill before renovation
- and when it opened as Georgian Crystal in 1981
The
raw materials are white silica sand, red lead oxide, potassium carbonate,
potassium nitrate, borax and serium.
The secret of the exact proportions of the mix is jealously guarded by the glass makers.
It is the content of this mix which gives it the lustre and ring which epitomises quality lead crystal. The clearer ring a glass makes when tapped, reveals, to the expert ear, the level of lead content.
These are heated in a furnace at temperatures of up to 1380° centigrade. It takes six days to bring the furnace up to the required searing heat which produces the glass, when starting from cold. Blowers and moulders work within a few feet of the furnace and spend their day in temperatures around 75° Fahrenheit.
The molten liquid is blown on a blowing iron and shaped between blocks of wet pear wood. After cooling, the cutting is done using diamond wheels and the finished item is polished in acid baths.
Visitors at Georgian Crystal are able to view the complete glass-making process from glass blowing through to the highly skilled art of glass cutting and, on regular occasions, the remarkable art of the glass engraving artist.
The furnace at Georgian Crystal
The Factory Shops
Both factory shops offers many bargains and visitors have the opportunity of purchasing high quality glass at low prices! Many of the articles on sale are seconds, but it requires a critical eye to detect the minute flaws which make them so.
Georgian Crystal
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Situated in a small intimate factory - once a silk mill - visitors are welcomed and invited at no cost to watch the modest team of highly skilled craftsmen practice their unique art, from glass blowing to the incredible art of cutting and engraving.
Visitors may purchase perfect and sub-perfect items in the shop.
Tutbury Crystal
Although the factory has re-located, there is still a factory shop in the High Street selling up to 50% discounted prices.
Hand made English full lead crystal
Personalised engraving and gift-wrapping service.
Mail order.
