Kieron Tyler

Hugh B. Willmott

John Baker's Thameside glasshouse in Vauxhall is the first of London's 17th-century glasshouses to be excavated. This publication describes the finds from the site and demonstrates how Vauxhall competed with London's other glasshouses to keep its place in the market. The nature of London's late 17th-century glass industry is discussed, setting Baker's glasshouse in its proper historical context. The glasshouse opened sometime between 1663 and 1681, and had closed down by 1704. Excavations undertaken by the Museum of London in 1989 found a furnace, crucibles, tools, working waste and finished vessels, showing that although Vauxhall operated at the time when lead crystal was first being made in England this manufactory produced vessels for a proven market: wine bottles, green-glass vessels and fine wares. The remains of a well-preserved 17th century bargehouse were also recorded at the site; it was constructed for the Clothworkers', Fishmongers' and Mercers' Companies in the 1640s and subsequently renewed.

John Baker's Late 17th-century Glasshouse at Vauxhall

From rank outsiders to pop stardom a decade later, The Damned blazed an anarchic trail through punk rock to achieve massive chart success. A beacon for the Sex Pistols and The Clash to follow, they flung down the musical gauntlet in 1976 with Britain’s first punk single ‘New Rose’. Smashing It Up: A Decade of Chaos with The Damned is their definitive biography, drawing on new, in-depth research and interviews with associates and band members – including founders Brian James, Chris Millar (Rat Scabies), Raymond Burns (Captain Sensible) and David Lett (David Vanian). Conflict was rife: managers and labels came and went; bridges were burnt; opportunities squandered; and Kieron Tyler reveals how – and why – the wayward, wild and wilful Damned are the punk band that survived, and why they truly led the British Punk movement and outshone their contemporaries.

Kieron Tyler

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