About Us

Will Shakspeare is one of the country's best known glass blowers. He has been featured regularly in the press and on TV including Inside The Factory, Kirstie's Homemade Home and Kirstie's Homemade Christmas with Kirstie Allsopp, and in the Telegraph Magazine with David Nicholls. Will set up Shakspeare Glass over 25 years ago and has supplied many galleries and well-known stores in that time. He has also worked in Central and South America as a consultant in glass production and design for various NGO's. His wife Kate looks after wholesale.

Shakspeare Glass moved from Taunton to Langport in 2013.

Will now works on his own with occasional help from assistants. Will's work is instantly recognisable and becoming highly sought after. His designs are always influenced by reality, Will translates what is around him into his work. The Somerset range epitomises the levels. Hedgerow and Winter reflect his love for detail in front of you. Coast was originally inspired in the Isles of Scilly but has now got offshoots based form different shores around the country. His ethos has always been to make what he likes, coupled with making accessible products for everyone. 

You can watch Will working generally Tuesday - Thursday in Langport - but it is a real life workshop not a blowing showroom. Sometimes stuff gets in the way and we can't talk to anyone.
Will says: “I like making a wide range of work, which is constantly evolving, it keeps you on your toes. All of my designs have a random factor, an aspect beyond my control. My inspiration is the backbone to my work - it is the driver for change. From the magic of water - I have always especially loved rock pools ( I have albums of photographs taken over the years of different pools in different places). The flow of the tide is an intrinsic part of my work, both in pools, the beaches and the sea. The reflection of sunlight as the tide pulls back and forth on the plants and creatures in the water is a constant source of wonder. Glass captures the qualities I love about the sea and water in a fluid way as no other can.
Recently I am getting more influenced by the landscape around the levels, the relationship and colours of the sky and land. I love looking at what joins them, the rhynes, reeds and willows. The colours in the hedges. The dimpsey sky in the river outside my workshop door. The lilies swaying just under the surface of the water. Even the cliched flash of the kingfisher which lives just up the bank. It always amazes me how close all this stuff is - you just need a bit of time to have a look"