Northern Glass Cone, Alloa Glass Works

Alloa Glass Works was established in 1750 by Lady Frances Erskine. Workers were trained by craftsmen from Bohemia (in the present-day Czech Republic), who also oversaw the construction of the first glass cone on the site. This structure was 90 ft tall. By 1825, the Edinburgh Glasgow and Alloa Glass Company owned the site; they built another three cones, of which the Northern cone, 79 ft high, was one. (Its immediate neighbour was correspondingly known as the Southern cone.) The base was octagonal, rather than circular, and had arched entrances. The main body of the cone was of brick laid in English Bond formation. The original cone and one other were demolished before the 1960s, but the…