Lemington Glass Cone

This landmark can be seen for miles around, and is the only survivor of four cones that once stood on this site.

The cone itself is not made of glass, as the name suggests but of brick, in the centre there was a furnace in which the glass was melted, the shape of the cone provided an updraft to keep the furnace going.

Around the furnace were arranged a number of openings from which molten glass was drawn by the glassblowers and then blown into cylinders.

The ends of these cylinders was then cut off and the resulting tube slit along its length.

After re-heating this was flattened out to form flat sheets of glass to be used for glazing windows etc.

The glass works was founded in 1787 by the Northumbria Glass Co.

Is now owned by GB Glass Bulbs Ltd. and there is now a museum of glass production here.