Handmade ‘onion bottles’ were made locally by small glassworks for individual commissions, and made in dark blackish green colours. Handmade seals attached to the bottles, identifying the owner, usually a wealthy client. 

Bottles would be taken by servants to the vintner (wine maker/seller), washed and refilled. 

The wine in Great Torrington may have been brough in locally from Bideford, or further afield at Dartmouth or Falmouth.

These wine bottles were usually ‘shouldered form’ with tapering necks and high domed bases. They came in a range of dark olive-green colours. These were hand blown using the crown or cylindrical method. 

Bottles often retained seals with owner’s initials or heraldic shields. Businesses like taverns and wine sellers also started marking bottles, advertising their businesses this way.

Wine bottles were mass produced in shades of brown, green and black glass.  Glass bottles were no longer just for wine, they were also commonly produced for beer and cider and even ginger beer and lemonade. The use of stonewar jars was largely replaced by glass bottles. Sweet drinks often featured marbles as a seal at the top of the bottle, to keep in the bubbles!