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Dartington Crystal The
story began in the 1920's at the beautiful Dartington Crystal Hall
when a wealthy American heiress and her Yorkshireman husband; Dorothy
and Leonard Elmhurst founded the Dartington Crystal Hall
Trust.
Based at Dartington Crystal,
near Totnes, South Devon, their original vision was to assist the economic regeneration
of rural areas through a combination of enterprises spanning business, education,
the arts and country crafts.
During the early 1960's, it became evident to the Trust, that
to the north of the county there was an ever-increasing demand
for new industry due to population migration to the cities. This
depopulation and the lack of employment for young people were the
basis from which the idea of a glass-making factory evolved.
In order to provide the expertise required for this enterprising
idea, the Trust recruited the first Managing Director, Eskil Vilhemson,
from a Swedish Glass manufacturer, who in turn recruited a team
of Scandinavian glass blowers and brought them to Devon. The factory
was officially opened in June 1967 when it employed just 35 people.
Over the following years, glass blowing skills were taught to
English craftsmen, working originally to Scandinavian designs and
later to the work of British designers. Many of the original glass
blowers remained in Torrington and have been a key strength over
the years in developing Dartington Crystal Crystal
into the leading name in English crystal.
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