The Glass Workers of Roman London

Recycling may be a topical subject today, but it is an ancient practice. Glass was regularly recycled to make new vessels during the Roman period and important new evidence for glass working in London came from 35 Basinghall Street in the City, with the discovery, in 2005, of over 70kg of broken vessel glass and production waste. This ranges from large blocks, which have cooled in a tank furnace, to minute threads swept from a workshop floor. Particularly impressive are thousands of moils the small cylinder of glass left on the end of the blowing iron when a vessel has been detached, each representing the making of a single product.