Site of Nailsea Glassworks

The glassworks was established by John Robert Lucas, in 1788 because of the plentiful supply of coal for the furnaces, from Elms colliery and other local mines of the Nailsea Basin and outlier of the Bristol Coalfield. The choice of site may also have been influenced by plans for the Grand Western Canal which was planned to include a branch to Nailsea. Lucas had previously had interests in a brewery and glassworks in Bristol and another at Stanton Wick. The company initially traded as "Nailsea Crown Glass and Glass Bottle Manufacturers". Lucas originally built two "cones": one for window glass and the other to make bottle glass. John Hartley of Hartley Wood and Co moved to Nailsea in 1812…

Part of the site of the glass works has been covered by a Tesco supermarket car park, leaving it relatively accessible for future archaeological digs. Archeological exploration was undertaken before the construction of the supermarket. Other parts of the site have been cleared and are being filled with a sand like substance to ensure that the remains of the old glass works are preserved. One surviving building, which housed French kilns and gas-fired furnaces, has been converted into a garage premises. A green space was eventually built on the site and opened on 30 April 2015 by local business owner John Brown.