The remains of Pilkingtons' No 9 Tank House represent a unique survival
from the 19th century, an period of rapid development within the glass
industry characterised by innovative but short-lived design. These
remains are now recognised as the most complete known glass furnace
structures of their era. Between 1991 and 1997, Lancaster University
Archaeological Unit (now Oxford Archaeology North) conducted a programme
of standing building survey, excavation, and oral and documentary
research, targeted on the remains on the 'Hotties' site, in St Helens,
Merseyside. The tank house was purpose-built by Pilkingtons in 1887 for
the manufacture of window glass using the blown cylinder method; the
cone house element of the complex still stands, and is an impressive
Grade II Listed building. The investigations revealed the surviving
base-level remains of a continuous tank furnace, with its regenerator
chambers and gas supply flues still largely intact. This report on the
excavation of the site includes chapters on the historical background to
glass making at Pilkingtons, the phases of construction and
redevelopment at the 'Hotties' site, working conditions and industrial
relations, and a discussion of the role of Pilkingtons in the
development of the British glass industry.