Chance's Glassworks

Chance's Glassworks
Seven-storey warehouse and canalside buildings of Chance's Glassworks, in 2007
Interactive map of Chance's Glassworks
General information
LocationSmethwick, England
Coordinates52°30′20″N 1°59′36″W / 52.50556°N 1.99333°W / 52.50556; -1.99333
grid reference SP 00546 89759
Closed1981

Chance's Glassworks is a former industrial site in Smethwick, West Midlands, England, established in 1822, where glass was manufactured by the Chance Brothers. Production ended in 1981. It is situated next to the BCN New Main Line canal, and a short distance south of the M5 motorway.

History

Robert Lucas Chance bought the site in 1822. By the 1830s the site occupied 14 acres (5.7 ha), and in the 1850s there were the seven-storey warehouse and office building, and eight buildings for glass production. Other buildings known to be on the site included worker's cottages, and buildings for particular functions including a carpenter's shop and a smith's shop.[1]

Production by the company included glass for about 2,300 lighthouses, and glass for the Crystal Palace and the Houses of Parliament.[2]

The company was taken over by Pilkington in the 1950s. Glass manufacturing ceased in 1981, and the site has been unused since then.[1]

Scheduled monument and listed buildings

The site was declared a scheduled monument in 2005. It is within the Smethwick Summit/Galton Valley Conservation Area, between the Old Main Line Canal to the north, and the New Main Line Canal to the south.[1]

Within the area of the scheduled monument are several listed buildings, excluded from the scheduling. There are the seven-storey L-plan warehouse and adjacent three-storey offices on Palace Drive, built in 1847;[3] warehouses alongside the canal, built between 1840 and 1852;[4][5][6] and two road bridges and a railway bridge across the canal, constructed about the same period.[7][8][9] All these buildings were listed Grade II in 1978.

Apart from the listed buildings, the site has been levelled; some buried structures, including furnace bases, tunnels and gas flues, were discovered during a survey in 1984.[1]

A survey requested by Chances Heritage Trust, using ground-penetrating radar, was carried out in March 2022. Surveying an accessible area of 0.7 hectares (1.7 acres), an image of the surviving regenerative furnace No. 7 was made.[10]

Heritage at Risk, and the Heritage Trust

Chance's Glassworks is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.[11] It appeared on the Victorian Society's top ten endangered buildings in 2024.[2]

The Chance Glassworks Heritage Trust was formed in March 2015, with the aim of restoring the existing buildings on the site, and advancing education concerning the social, economic and architectural history and heritage of the buildings and the area. When restored, space would be let within the buildings, to create business training and re-training opportunities.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Chances Glassworks, Smethwick (1021387)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Last chance to preserve one of the West Midlands key industrial heritage sites as it appears on Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered buildings list 2024" The Victorian Society. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  3. ^ Historic England. "THE SEVEN STOREY WAREHOUSE AND OFFICES AT CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (1287117)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  4. ^ Historic England. "WAREHOUSE BETWEEN HARTLEY BRIDGE AND CANAL BRIDGE, CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (1279456)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  5. ^ Historic England. "TWO WAREHOUSES, IMMEDIATELY EAST OF CANAL BRIDGE, CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (1077127)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  6. ^ Historic England. "DOUBLE RANGE OF WAREHOUSES IMMEDIATELY WEST OF HARTLEY BRIDGE, CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (1077128)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  7. ^ Historic England. "CANAL BRIDGE, CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (APPROXIMATELY 160 METRES WEST OF SPON LANE SOUTH) BIRMINGHAM CANAL BIRMINGHAM LEVEL (1214811)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  8. ^ Historic England. "HARTLEY BRIDGE, CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (APPROXIMATELY 230 METRES WEST OF SPON LANE SOUTH) BIRMINGHAM CANAL BIRMINGHAM LEVEL (1077153)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  9. ^ Historic England. "RAILWAY BRIDGE AT CHANCE'S GLASSWORKS (APPROXIMATELY 160 METRES WEST OF SPON LANE SOUTH) BIRMINGHAM CANAL BIRMINGHAM LEVEL (1342646)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  10. ^ "Chances Glassworks, Smethwick, Sandwell: Report On Geophysical Survey, March 2022" Historic England. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Heritage at Risk:Chances Glassworks, Smethwick - Sandwell" Historic England. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  12. ^ "The Trust" Chance Glass Works Heritage Trust. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  • Media related to Chance's Glassworks at Wikimedia Commons
  • Chance Heritage Trust
  • Chance's Glassworks Heritage Trust
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