A significant Black Country glass site is placed in the top 10 most threatened buildings

Chance Brothers Glassworks, on Spon Lane, Smethwick, which at its peak employed more than 3,500 people in the Black Country, has been selected by the Victorian Society to appear on a list of the Top 10 Most Endangered Buildings.

The site has previously supplied specialist lenses for 2,300 lighthouses around the world, making it one of the world’s leading glassworks.

Now heritage leaders are calling for action to save the site after it was put on a list of 10 endangered buildings, with the Victorian Society saying it is “in real danger of being lost” if action is not taken.

James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, said: “Chance’s story is unique and fascinating. It is one that is told through the structure of its site, which is in part what makes it so precious and the need to save it so pressing. .