Southwick, Bottle Works

The 1st edition Ordnance Survey plan seems to show four kilns on the site. Glass had been manufactured in Southwick since 1698 when the Suddick Glasshouse was opened. Many Europeans came to the North East of England and brought with them the secrets of glassmaking. The ballast material brought to the Tyne and Wear by ships taking coal away, provided many of the raw materials for the industry. Consequently there was a thriving glass and bottle industry on Wearside for over 200 years. Among the most important sites were the Wearmouth Crown Glass Works, started in 1786 (HER ref. 2772) and the Southwick Bottleworks, dating from 1846. Glassmaking fell into deep decline during the depression of the 1880s and the following decades. The bottleworks finally closed in 1917, by which time only shipbuilding survived of the major industries which had made Southwick a prosperous Victorian town.