AN ambitious plan to restore the remains of an historic bottle-making shop has taken a significant stride forward after it was placed under the ownership of a special preservation trust.
Opened in 1886, No: 7 Bottle Shop in St Helens was one of the world’s first regenerative furnaces for continuous glass bottle production.
Its remains stand next to the Steve Prescott Bridge on land between the Tesco supermarket and St Helens town centre – and the site is a short distance from the new £54m Glass Futures innovation centre.
Historic remains
The bottle shop’s remaining structure includes an oval architectural cone, which was a feature of earlier crucible furnace batch production, and flue tunnels, which reversed air through the generators.
The site, classed as scheduled monument and grade II listed building, is all that remains of what was once the largest glass bottle production facilities in the world – Cannington Shaw.
The area would eventually become United Glass Bottles and latterly, United Glass, before closing in the late 1990s.
On a summer evening last week, the Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust group gathered at the site to celebrate the milestone achievement of the bottle shop being transferred into the ownership of the trust.
Restoring the bottle shop was among several projects to receive funding from the St Helens Town Deal Board, which succeeded in securing £25 million for the borough from the Governments Towns Fund initiative.
Taking ownership of the sire is seen as a key part of the journey.
'Forward momentum'
John Tabern, chair of the Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust, said: “The transfer of the No: 7 Bottle Shop to the Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust is a significant step in the forward momentum of this project.
“Combined with the award from the Towns Fund, it gives the Trust credibility in its endeavours to procure further funding for the onward development and future sustainability of the site.
“When it opened in 1886 it was revolutionary and at the cutting edge of developing technology, we at the Trust hope to return the bottle shop to that status with ambitious plans.
“This will require hard work from those involved, but I’m confident that we can achieve this.” Joining the group to mark the occasion was the trust’s president Andy Reid and leader of St Helens Borough Council, David Baines, along with several other local representatives.
Bringing new life to site
War veteran Andy Reid MBE said: “I’m kept regularly updated on progress, I know first-hand how hard they have worked on this to bring it to this point.
“I look forward to being part of the next phase as we start work on site to bring new life and purpose to this remarkable piece of history.”
The noteworthy occasion advances this key Town Deal project reflecting the heritage of St Helens Borough’s glass industry.
Councillor Richard McCauley, cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said: he was delighted to see the plans for this historic St Helens site taking shape.
He said: “We look forward to seeing the project progress and deliver on our aims to transform our borough through the Town Deal Fund.
“Cannington is a very important part of the new and emerging research, innovation and manufacturing hub surrounding the new Glass Futures facility.”
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