Originally a rudimentary "heavy glassworks" at the start of the 17th century, it became an integral part of the Royal Mirror Glass Manufacture. Richard Lucas de Néhou was named manager of the Cotentin works, " a new establishment in an area where wood costs little and the river is most accommodating." Opened on December 1, 1667, it was specialised to glassblowing.

After a period of prosperity, the works went through a difficult period. At the end of the 18th century, coal replaced wood. The coal came, notably, from Littry (Calvados).

In 1785, the works closed for the first time due to a lack of wood. Under the Directoire, there were still a large number of workers. But, from 1798 on, the mirror-works slowly but surely started dying out. Despite a new lease of life in 1820, only the polishing of the mirrors was still done on the site.

The sale of the works in eight lots took place in 1834.

Despite a prestigious past, with sales in Russia and the Americas, the works were dismantled in the early years of the 19th century. Some of the workers' houses, part of the managerial office and the polishing shop were still visible until 1944.

On April 20, 1944, all this was destroyed by bombs heralding the Normandy Landings. Only the Chapel and a few renovated workers' houses remind us today of more than a century and a half of prosperity.