AN ICONIC relic of the past lies under our noses in St Helens, with the World of Glass home to one of the world’s first – and last remaining - regenerative glassmaking furnaces.
The Grade II listed building - also known as a tank house - was built in 1889 and lies at the edge of a Pilkington Glass factory, connected to the World of Glass via a glass bridge over the canal.
Complete with underground tunnels, the cone-shaped furnace marked a radical shift from traditional glassmaking techniques in the Victorian era.
Formerly, glass was melted inside large pots which got so intensely hot, they became exhausted and had to be constantly rebuilt.
However, dazzled by the ground-breaking technology of glassmaking at Wilheim Siemens’ factory in Germany, Windle Pilkington adapted the idea to build the UK’s first regenerative factory here in St Helens.
The regenerative process simply means recycling waste heat, and the furnace was constructed with a large cone structure and underground tunnels to continually channel the heat in and out of the building, while constantly melting the glass in a central brick-lined tank.
This made glassmaking exponentially more efficient, cutting costs, time and labour in one large swoop – while making St Helens a world-leader in industrial glassmaking.
Peter Frost, director of the World of Glass, said: “They really mastered the art of glassmaking here. Inside the tank, the glass would be constantly made into large cylinders and shaved down.
“Due to the heat inside the furnace, the bricks would turn white when they were that hot, which would keep the melting process going.”
Peter explained how the cone structure of the furnace would funnel the heat back down on to the melting glass, with the tunnels used to evacuate the hot gases and increase air flow once again.
Pilkington’s was seen as the perfect location for the furnace, which was close to coal mines for fuel and directly next to the ‘Hotties’ canal which could transport fuel and also cool the molten glass.
Despite its iconic status as being one of the last remaining regenerative glass furnaces in the world, the tank house is under threat of closing as it needs costly structural repairs to ensure its survival.
Peter encourages local people of all ages to come and witness this fascinating piece of local history and ensure the relic can continue to showcase St Helens as a world leader in industrial glass-making.
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