In 1769, William Stephens, a British industrial businessman, bought the glass factory in Marinha Grande, a small town surrounded by a huge pine forest planted in the sand. This particular location, the prominent support of the Marquis of Pombal and the protection of King José 1, made the factory grow and reach the same level as the biggest competitors in Europe and become an important factor of development for the whole region and the whole nation of Portugal.

William and his brother John, with their strong middle-class upbringing, were able to create an unprecedented industry in medical care, education and culture for the workers and their families.
Much more than a factory, the Stephens created a village.

Even under the devastating and oppressive invasion of Napoleon, the city held out and, with the impetus of the royal glass factory, returned to the path of the great industrial centre that still exists today!