Friends, Romans, Puntymen, lend me your irons: The secondary glass industry in Roman Britain

Even at the edge of the Roman Empire, in Roman Britain, substantial quantities of vessel and window glass were consumed. The glass itself was not made in Britain, but imported to Britain as raw glass chunks, some as cullet, and fully formed objects. This paper will examine the nature of glass working at three workshops dating from the second to fourth century AD at Mancetter-Hartshill/Warwickshire, at Blue Boar Lane/Leicester and at St Algar’s Farm/Somerset. The evidence suggests that although glassworking was relatively widespread in Britain, many sites were predominantly working blue-green glass from re-melted cullet. It appears that only in the very large commercial centres, such as London, was there easier access to imports of raw glass, and perhaps also to more specialised glassworkers.