Conservation Area: Northampton Boot and Shoe Quarter conservation area (DNN12656)

The Northampton Boot and Shoe Conservation Area is a proposed new designation which follows from the Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry Rapid Survey Record undertaken in 1999-2000 by English Heritage with support from Northamptonshire County Council. The subsequent publication of “Built to Last” by English Heritage highlighted the national importance of the urban landscape and the contribution made by the history of the footwear industry in Northampton to the understanding of the process of industrialisation in Britain in the 19th century. It also drew attention to the need for conservation protection for this special area of industrial heritage. From the 1850s onwards terraced housing for the workers, intermingled with buildings for footwear production and supporting trades were developed in a tightly-grained urban pattern of straight streets as the economically buoyant town expanded rapidly north and eastwards. The area contains closely contemporary factories, workshops, shops, public houses, clubs, schools and places of worship, all centred around Abington Square with its locally important memorials. Together they eloquently illustrate the town’s and the nation’s important industrial development in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Record last edited

Sep 9 2025 2:22PM