Monument record 1933/21/1 - Main mill, and later factory, building

A building used as a corn mill before the end of the 19th century and largely rebuilt in the late 19th century after which it is thought to have been used for leather or boot and shoe manufacture. It was investigated by English Heritage Architectural Survey staff in July 2000. The building was certainly in use for the leather trade in the 1920s. According to one source it was the shoe factory of George Claypole. When in use as a corn mill it may have been water-powered since it is parallel to the course of the stream running through Finedon. The building was of three storeys and seven bays and built of brick with Welsh slate roofs. A range of buildings to the south east and south west of the building previously formed (with a range of houses now demolished) the factory yard. The building appears on a 1970 Ordnance Survey map (1:2500) as a 'Venetian blind factory'. When investigated in 2000, it was in use as a light engineering works and blind factory. However it was demolished shortly after this date, perhaps in 2003 and replaced with housing.

{1} Large three storey factory; constructed from a mixture of stone and brick. Located to the rear of Wells Street beside stream which used to run through the village. Still in industrial usage by WH Herdman manufacturing Co Ltd Film 3, photo 17, 22

{2} The building recorded prior to the demolition is basically of a mid to late Victorian date. This factory is situated on an earlier structure, possibly a mill. Little evidence of the early structure survives above ground; the remaining fabric that is showing has been heavily modified. After the building lay in ruins it was rebuilt c1850 and had possible links to the boot and shoe industry.
Kelly's leather trade directory, 1929, indicates that John Edward Smith, currier and leather dresser operated out of Finedon Mill; there is no other information, in particular an address. It is very possible that this manufacturer operated out of the redundant mill on Mill Lane and not Well Street. It is suggested that during the early part of the 20th century the Tower Boot Company conducted its business in this factory before moving into bigger premises on the Wellingborough Road.
The only certainty about this building is its connection with the Herdman Manufacturing Company who took possession in the early 1960s and vacated it in 2003. It is unclear when Herdman ceased building television aerials but by 2003 the whole Herdman company was dedicated to the manufacture of exclusive blinds.
Building description, plans and photos.

{4} History:
1884 Buildings shown (OS 1:2500, XXXII.16)
1929 John Edward Smith, currier & leather dresser, Finedon Mill (LT)
1937 As 1929 (LT)
1967 W M Herdman Manufacturing Co Ltd (ISE)
1970 ‘Venetian Blind Factory’ (OS 1:2500, SP 90/91 71)
2000 As 1967

Finedon Mill stands parallel to the course of the small and now culverted stream which flows generally westwards through Finedon towards the River Ise. This suggests a water-powered site, though the 1884 OS map shows no mill pond and any evidence has been obscured by later development. The building had ceased to be a corn mill before the end of the 19th century (no millers are listed in the 1890 Kelly’s, for example), and it is unclear at what point it began to be used for leather-trades purposes. The architectural evidence suggests a conversion to leather or boot and shoe manufacture in the late-19th century, but in contemporary directories many manufacturers are listed without an address; the earliest entry found which conclusively links the building with a leather trade dates from the 1920s.
As rebuilt in the late-19th century the Mill is of three storeys and seven bays. There are some remains of the earlier building. On the rear (north) wall there is coursed limestone and ironstone rubble masonry up to first-floor sill level, while the west gable is of stone for its full height. A different, and irregular, bay rhythm is indicated by a series of blocked ground-floor windows to the rear, each with brick quoins and a timber lintel. In the easternmost bay there is a wide opening with a segmental brick arch. This passes right through the building, and appears to have given access to a small range, now demolished, which was directly alongside the stream (OS, 1884-1924).
The rebuilding produced a more uniform south front decorated with flush bands of buff brick. On the ground floor there are wide tripartite windows, slightly displaced in relation to the upper-floor windows by the width of the opening at the east end. The upper-floor windows are smaller, but share with the others blue brick sills and segmental heads in which the standard orange brick headers alternate with buff bricks. Taking-in doorways occupy the second bay from the west. In the west gable a single window is visible on each of the first and second floors; both have quoins and segmental arches in brick, and blue brick sills; the lower example retains what is probably the original timber frame. On the rear elevation there are just four windows on each of the upper floors, and these are 20th-century insertions with ferroconcrete lintels, associated with large areas of Fletton brickwork. They are offset towards the east, leaving a large area of blind walling at the west end, and it is clear that any earlier windows in this wall must have been similarly offset.
At the east end of the mill there is a much-altered flat-roofed two-storey block of brick construction. South of this there is a short, gabled asbestos-roofed range, also of two storeys, which matches the brickwork and window form of the rebuilt mill. It forms the east side of the factory yard, which was formerly concealed from Well Street to the south by a row of houses, demolished after 1924. A range of stone buildings forming the west side of the yard appears always to have been in different ownership.

{5} Finedon Mill. This complex was in use as a curriery or for shoe manufacture in the late 19th century. It appears to retain remains of what was probably a corn mill and is currently an engineering works.

{6} This was never known as Finedon Mill - Finedon mill was on the Ise Brook and demolished about 1960. This building dated from the mid-C19th and was originally the shoe factory of George Fredk Claypole. It was demolished about 2000.

{7-9} This record was rewritten following the comments above. It is not thought to have been named Finedon Mill but was used as a corn mill and later rebuilt and used as a boot and shoe Factory (see Buildings File). Finedon Mill was located at SP9000072135 as is evident from a 1926 Ordnance Survey map (1:2500) but has now been demolished.

{5-9}A building used as a corn mill before the end of the 19th century and largely rebuilt in the late 19th century after which it is thought to have been used for leather or boot and shoe manufacture. It was investigated by English Heritage Architectural Survey staff in July 2000. The building was certainly in use for the leather trade in the 1920s. According to one source it was the shoe factory of George Fredk Claypole. When in use as a corn mill it may have been water-powered since it is parallel to the course of the stream running through Finedon. The building was of three storeys and seven bays and built of brick with Welsh slate roofs. A range of buildings to the south east and south west of the building previously formed (with a range of houses now demolished) the factory yard. The building appears on a 1970 Ordnance Survey map (1:2500) as a 'Venetian blind factory'. When investigated in 2000, it was in use as a light engineering works and blind factory by W. M. Herdman Manufacturing Company Ltd.

{6, 8} However it was demolished shortly after this date, perhaps in 2003 and replaced with housing. The housing appears to be very similar in plan to the previous building as indicated on deskGIS but has house or apartment numbers 1-5, indicative of the new use of the site.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Industrial Period, (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN4.

<2> Looker J., 2003, Archaeogical Building Survey: Well Street Mill Revisited - The W H Herdman Manufacturing Co Ltd, Well Street, Finedon, p.18 (checked) (Report). SNN103099.

<3> Looker, J., 2003, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN108744.

<4> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Finedon site 10 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<5> Historic England, Unknown, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments, NMR Archive File, BF103643 (Oral Report). SNN111577.

<6> Historic England, Unknown, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments, PastScape Feedback 28-MAR-2008 (Oral Report). SNN111577.

<7> Historic England, Unknown, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments, Compiler Comment, Seb Fry 31-MAR-2008 (Oral Report). SNN111577.

<8> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), 1:2500, 2007 (Map). SNN112944.

<9> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), 1:2500, 1926 (Map). SNN112944.

<10> Historic England, Undated, W M Herdman Manufacturing Co Ltd, 1-5 Well Street (formerly Finedon Mill), Finedon, BF103643 (Archive). SNN115850.

Record last edited

Jan 10 2024 4:46PM