What to See in Stourbridge - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum. The Red House Cone is a glass cone located in Wordsley in the West Midlands, adjacent to the Stourbridge Canal bridge on the A491 High Street. It is a 90-foot high conical brick structure with a diameter of 60 feet, used for the production of glass. It was used by the Stuart Crystal firm till 1936, when the company moved to a new facility at Vine Street. It is one of only four complete cones remaining in the United Kingdom.

It is the best preserved of only four such structures in the UK and is currently maintained as a museum by Dudley Council. (The other three cones are at Lemington, Catcliffe and Alloa). At the site are 10 independent creative businesses including glass artists, pottery, jewellers, textiles fine art and demonstrations of glass blowing along with a Coffee House and gift shop. Visitors can tour the exhibition and are able to climb a platform to view more closely the interior of the cone. There is a free car park, areas to sit outside and the site offers entertainment for children and occasional events. It is possible to moor canal boats at the site overnight.

Until mid-2009, Stuart Crystal still had their main retail unit on the site, and for many years previously had a factory unit on the opposite side of the road. The firm became part of the Waterford Wedgwood group which was world-renowned, however went into administration in January 2009 meaning the store closed.

A 1-acre (4,000 m2) site, on which the cone stands, was sold by John and Ann Southwell and Rebecca Stokes to Richard Bradley, a wealthy glass-manufacturer, on 21 June 1788. It is believed that Bradley began construction on the site soon after purchase, meaning that the cone would date to around 1790. The cone was built by Bradley in partnership with his brother-in-law, George Ensell, for the manufacture of window glass. Ensell installed a moving lehr in the cone, which remains today and is the only surviving one in the world.

The cone received Grade II* listed building status on 23 September 1966.^[3]

Museum in Kingswinford, England. Broadfield House, a Grade II listed building, was home to a glass museum and hot glass studio, owned and operated by Dudley Council museum service and was located in Kingswinford, West Midlands, England. The museum closed on 30 September 2015.

It displayed a huge variety of glass objects, dating from the 17th century to the present day, across nine galleries. In addition to the glass displays were several paintings that demonstrate glass making and the local landscape. The museum also displayed glass making tools and ephemera produced by the glass industry. Various events and temporary exhibitions were held throughout its history. To complete the visitor experience it had a shop that sold various souvenirs, books, vintage glassware and products from contemporary glassmakers.^[7]

English civil parish. Amblecote is an urban village and one of the most affluent areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it, and is on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands conurbation. Historically, Amblecote was in the parish of Oldswinford, but unlike the rest of the parish it was in Staffordshire, and as such was administered separately.

Formerly an urban district in its own right, Amblecote was divided between the boroughs of Dudley and Stourbridge in 1966, with the area to the east of the railway line becoming part of Brierley Hill in Dudley, and the remainder going into Stourbridge. This is reflected in the area's postcodes, being split between the DY5 and DY8 postal districts.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act, the entirety of Amblecote became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the new West Midlands county.^[8]