Skip hire firm uses nationally historic former glassworks site for processing rubbish
Grade II-listed, 1824, The Chance Brothers
In the mid-nineteenth century, Chance’s Glassworks was one of the most important industrial sites in the West Midlands, responsible for significant technological developments in the manufacture of plate glass, scientific glass, and coloured glass. The ground beneath the site has been designated a scheduled ancient monument, containing handheld tools, machine components, and fragments of the glass used in the Crystal Palace, for the clock faces of Big Ben, and for some 2300 Victorian lighthouse lanterns around the world. Above ground, eight of the nineteenth-century buildings and structures have been listed at Grade II, including the landmark ‘Seven Storey’ of 1847, which towers over the flyover immediately to its north. Regrettably, the current condition of the buildings is ‘very poor’, with an entry in Historic England’s heritage at risk register identifying a threat of rapid deterioration.
Much of the site in North West Smethwick is held on a long lease by a skip hire company, a totally unsuitable use for a nationally historic site, made worse by the fact that the tenant has failed to comply with most of the original planning conditions imposed in 2011. In recent years, a permanent shelter has been erected on site without consent, rubbish has been burned on site, and large vehicles have started to park inside the complex, causing damage to above- and below-ground heritage assets. An appeal by the tenants against Sandwell Council’s enforcement against breaches of planning control was dismissed in May and the skip hire business must cease on site by the end of six months from that date. However, all the listed buildings are in very poor condition, including ‘Seven Storey’, with one of the listed buildings adjacent to the canal now at risk of collapse.
Tim Bridges, Caseworker at the The Victorian Society, said: ‘It is important that a more sensitive approach be adopted to preserve the significant heritage of this scheduled ancient monument with its collection of listed buildings. This opportunity is offered by Chance’s Heritage Trust, but the challenges are enormous, time is of the essence and currently the site is extremely vulnerable to ongoing deterioration and neglect, wilful damage and vandalism’.
Status Update / March 2026
Following a period of decline, the Chance Heritage Trust successfully bid for grant funding in 2024, and were awarded more than £450,000 from Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The funding will enable the trust to employ a project director and a small support team, and to develop plans for the regeneration of the existing seven-storey building and the adjacent engineering workshop and yard. It is anticipated that the completed scheme will support a range of residential, educational, and commercial uses, including a heritage museum and public art installation.