Building record 3884/0/167 - 1 - 27 Upper Havelock Street

Havelock Buildings (1-17 Upper Havelock St) and Park Crescent Buildings (19-27 Upper Havelock St) are two roughly contemporary, late 19th century terraced houses. Some of the houses were built with, or acquired, rear ranges over and above domestic requirements. It seems likely that the workshops were intended for boot and shoemaking.

{1} Industrial Building, Park Road.
Industrial building to the rear of corner house on Park Road, now converted to terraced houses possibly originally closing shop or outworking workshop for shoe/clothing industry.

{2} Havelock Buildings (1 - 17) and Park Crescent Buildings (19 - 27) are 2 roughly contemporary terraces. No. 1 is larger and incorporates a shop. By 1885 some of the houses had rear ranges over and above domestic requirements, the most substantial of these attached to No. 1, with large windows and a taking-in doorway indicative of industrial use. There were also thirteen workshops arrange din two rows separated from the yards of the houses by an alleyway.The development has the appearance of a single entity and seem likely to have been workshops intended for boot and shoemaking.The ground floor of the workshop bays at No. 1 is obscured by the boundary wall and various later additions and it is unclear whether they originally provided a single unit or a series of small workshops.

{3} Building assessment of the rear range of No. 1, before conversion to flats.
The range appears to be shown on the 1880s OS map but the scale of the map makes it impossible to be definitive.
The workshop is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish garden wall bond. There are openings on the ground floor on the west side only, the north gable end and east side are blank with no present or former openings. An integral alleywat is located at the north end ground floor which leads to the adjoining property on the east side. The building is roofed with blue slate, probably Welsh in origin, with Staffordshire blue ceramic ridge tiles. A yard separates the workshop from Park Road, this is mainly concreted now though there are a few Staffordshire blue pavers with a diamond pattern surface indicating that this may be the original surface.
More detail, plans and photos.
The workshop at the rear of Park House, Upper Havelock Street was almost certainly built at the same time as that property in 1881, and may have operated as part of the local boot and shoe industry. There is no clear evidence to support this theory, and it is equally possible that the workshop was for another profession and comprised a well-lit workroom on the first floor with storage below, though the lack of both in situ and documentary evidence makes either theory possible. It was clearly not intended for living accommodation, although a fireplace on each floor was part of the original design, and the workshop was not linked internally to the rear of the main property. It is also possible that it was intended as a letting property to provide additional income, and
never was directly linked to the shop front. Structurally it is clear that the building has undergone significant changes, primarily on the ground floor with changes to openings on that elevation. Whilst these have been observed and recorded it has not been possible to determine quite how the ground floor functioned since the internal space has been completely denuded of any original fixtures
or fittings. The first floor, whilst retaining some evidence of the space is equally barren of evidence which might indicate how it was used. All that can be said is that it was accessed via a staircase located at the southern end, was lit by windows on the east side and had a small fireplace.

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

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

<3> Prentice, J., 2011, Archaeological Building Assessment of 48 Park Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN107236.

<4> Historic England, Undated, 1-27 Upper Havelock Street, Wellingborough, BF103729 (Archive). SNN116465.

Record last edited

Jul 4 2024 12:03PM