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to Shop for Dartington Crystal
The story began in the 1920's at the beautiful Dartington
Hall when a wealthy American heiress and her Yorkshireman husband;
Dorothy and Leonard Elmhurst founded the Dartington
Hall Trust.
Based at Dartington,
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 into the leading name in English crystal.
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