“The Bottom Shop” The History of Glassmaking in Hatton, Derbyshire by Chris Tipper and Philip Bell

The history of Glassmaking in Hatton, Derbyshire is an unexpectedly eventful tale of 120 years of roller-coaster industrial and commercial endeavour, largely unrecorded until now. “The Bottom Shop” tells a story, not so much of Glass, but rather of Glassmakers – a succession of very differing entrepreneurs who set out boldly to make a go of things in the Scropton Lane Glassworks, some flourishing bravely for a while, but all ultimately defeated by the market forces lined up against them.
Output ranged from the sophistication of hand-blown and decorated crystal tableware to the more mundane machine-based production of cosmetic containers, jam jars, light bulbs and even dolls eyes. Along the way the Glassworks provided many jobs, albeit rarely “steady jobs”, for a large number of extended Hatton and Tutbury families. Surnames recur throughout the story that will be familiar to many local readers.
Drawing initially on the archives of Tutbury Museum, the book brings into the public domain the results of recent original research, based on Trade Union records, local newspapers, family history resources and oral testimony. It is hoped that the work will bring back to life a colourful, but until now only hazily remembered period in the community’s history.