Long Glassmaking Tradition Comes To An End At Wearside

The closure of Arc Glass brings more than 1,000 years of industrial glass production on Wearside to a close. Barely a mile separates the last bastion of commercial glass production in Sunderland from the venue that celebrates a tradition that stretches back more than a thousand years. The National Glass Centre is keeping glass-making alive in the city but the days of industrial production came to an end 1st October, with the closure of Arc International's Millfield works. It brings an end to a tradition that first flourished with the birth of Christian scholarship on Wearside. This online article takes a look at the history of glassmaking at the site from its historic beginnings way back in 674.