Monument record 3884/0/141 - Boot and shoe factory, Mill Road / Strode Road

Rudlen & Co Shoe Factory 1898-1936; Sudborough & Wood Shoe Factory 1936-1965. An 'L' plan boot and shoe factory located on the north side of Strode Road was completed in 1898 for Rudlen and Company. The factory has three brick- built storeys over a basement. It was rebuilt and extended after a fire in 1913 and continued in use as a shoe factory until 1965. Now converted to residential use

{1} Boot and shoe factory, Mill Road / Strode Road
Large shoe factory on corner of Mill Road and Strode Road. Three storey construction with datestone A1898". The building is primarily functional, but with elaborate embellishment on corner of plot. Now in use by 'Gilmour and Vale Limited' and 'Prestige Printing' - changes and additions to the structure in modern times. Small industrial building to the rear of the factory, probably connected to the structure.

{2} Rudlen and Co's boot and show factory was built in 1898, designed by J.E. Cutlan and built by Mariott's of Rushden. It was fully equipped with the latest machinery including open-bed presses and a 10hp Crossley 'Otto' gas engine, and accommodated 45 lasters in a building heated by hot-water pipes. Following a serious fire in 1913 it was rebuilt and extended. It was sold in 1936 to Sudborough and Wood. Now owned by Gilmour and Vale (Engineering) and M. Dainty, clicking contractor.

The 1899 edition of the OS map shows a rectangular-plan factory which corresponds to the six bay Strode Road elevation and the first two bays of the Mill Road elevation. The factory was extended eastwards along Mill Road between 1899 and 1924.

{3}In Mill Road, at the corner of Strode Road, a three-storey plus basement factory whose corner block is dated 1898 has later extensions.

{4} A historic building record was made prior to its conversion to residential apartments. The boot and shoe making business founded by Robert Rudlen in 1862 was one of a few Wellingborough firms which manufactured the complete article. After Rudlen’s death in 1891, the business was developed as a limited company (R Rudlen & C. Ltd), and continued to expand and prosper over the next three decades, until being sold to another footwear manufacturer in 1936. The building is understood to have last been used for footwear production in the 1970s.
Four main phases of factory construction and development were identified. The first phase was
completed in 1898 and consisted of a three-storey rectangular block with its frontage on Strode Road, an enclosed yard to the rear with a detached outbuilding. The second phase witnessed a doubling of the size and capacity of the factory with the addition of the three-storey Mill Road wing; and probably the construction of additional outbuildings at the rear. In the late 1920s or 1930s a threestorey bay was added to the Phase I wing, at which time an existing lift was upgraded and a second lift constructed. The final phase saw the building converted into an engineering tool-making factory in the 1970s, whereby outbuildings were demolished to create a modern factory floor.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Wellingborough (Industrial), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100290.

<2> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<3> Palmer M; Neaverson P., 1992, Industrial Landscapes of the East Midlands, p.94 (checked) (Book). SNN3691.

<4> Wilson, M., 2018, Historic Building Record: Former R Rudlen & Co Ltd, Boot and Shoe Manufactury, Mill Road, Wellingborough, December 2018 (Report). SNN111308.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2019, South Midlands Archaeology (49), p. 85-7 & Fig 14 (Journal). SNN111755.

<6> Historic England, Undated, 9 Mill Road, Wellingborough, BF103720 (Archive). SNN113917.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Wellingborough, Two photographs dated 1998 (Photographs). SNN115387.

Record last edited

Sep 13 2023 3:17PM