Percival, Vickers British and Foreign Flint Glass Works, Manchester
by Ian Miller
An important advance in the glass industry was the introduction of casting plate glass by the British Plate Glass Company at St Helens in 1773. This works, at the time it was built, was the largest industrial building in the country. In the casting process, molten glass was ladled from the furnace onto an iron casting table and then rolled into a plate. Many further technological changes were introduced during the 19th century, and especially at glassworks in St Helens: it is unsurprising that many accounts of English glass-making in the 19th and 20th centuries focus upon St Helens. However, an important industry became established in Manchester, with over 25 glassworks in operation by the 1870s. One such works was that established in 1844 by Thomas Percival and William Yates, on land adjacent to the Rochdale Canal in the Ancoats area of Manchester. The works was equipped with two furnaces, an annealing house, workshops, and a large building along the street frontage that was used as offices and a warehouse. By 1852, the company partners were joined by Thomas Vickers, and after William Yates left in 1862, the company became known as Percival, Vickers British and Foreign Flint Glass Works. It was a very successful concern, and by 1863 it had become the largest glassworks in Manchester, with a total workforce of 373. A wide range of glass vessels was produced, including decanters, tumblers, and wine glasses. During the 1880s the works was expanded to include a third furnace, which appears to the rear left on this engraving.
The finer details of glass-making were closely guarded secrets, and little was recorded in the period from 1820 to 1900. One of the reasons for this is that glass-makers were careful not to broadcast their innovative processes in order to remain competitive in an age when technological improvements were commonplace. The excavation of the Percival, Vickers British and Foreign Flint Glass Works has examined two furnaces built in 1844 and one of some 40 years later. Several notable differences existed between the two types of furnaces, representing technological advances. Most striking was the physical size of the later furnace, which was somewhat larger than its earlier counterparts and therefore capable of containing more pots of molten glass. The method of fuelling the furnaces was also very different. The earlier furnaces were fed with coal via an opening just above the furnace floor, whilst the later one employed an apparatus that forced the coal into the fire from below. Known as a ‘Frisbee Feeder’, this device worked on the same principle as an Archimedes screw. Coal was carried to the feeder from the adjacent canal via an underground tunnel that also provided some of the air draught for the furnace. The two passages around the edge of the furnace seen in the photograph provided the workmen with a means of passing from one side of the fire to the other, and also improved the flow of gases within the furnace. These improvements allowed a larger furnace yet reduced fuel consumption.
The excavation and subsequent analysis was funded entirely by a partnership between Urban Splash Ltd and Lever Street Properties Ltd.