The Catcliffe Glass Cone is a glass cone in the village of Catcliffe in South Yorkshire, England. It is the oldest surviving structure of its type in Western Europe, and it is a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The glassworks cone is located at 53°23′33″N 1°21′42″W / 53.3926°N 1.3617°W / 53.3926; -1.3617Coordinates: 53°23′33″N 1°21′42″W / 53.3926°N 1.3617°W / 53.3926; -1.3617. It was part of the Catcliffe glassworks, which was established in 1740 by William Fenney. Fenney had previously been the manager of the glassworks at Bolsterstone that was owned by his mother-in-law. The site at Catcliffe was chosen in part because the terms of her will prevented him from setting up a glassworks within 10 miles (16 km) of the works at Bolsterstone and Catcliffe is 10.5 miles (16.9 km) away. The glassworks closed c1887, but was reopened briefly in 1900, then in the First World War the site was used as a prisoner of war camp.
The cone was threatened with demolition in the 1960s so the foundations of the other buildings that comprised the glassworks were excavated in 1962. In 1968 the cone received Grade I listing.
Famous quotes containing the word glass:
“O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s,eye, tongue, sword,
Th’ expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mold of form,
Th’ observed of all observers, quite, quite down!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)