Building record 953/12/1 - Tomlin's Shoe Factory, rear of Church Street

To the rear and offset to the north of Romaset Cottage is a one-and-a-half-storeyed workshop which may have been connected with the boot and shoe industry. It has an entrance and a three-light window in the south front and what appears to be a blocked window in the east gable.

{1} Shoe Factory; Tomalin's factory on the Banks. A building appears to survive but function unclear.

{3} The factory is probably that of Tomalin Brothers, who commenced business ‘in a small way’ in 1880. In 1916 much of their trade was still in hand-made boots and shoes, and they were described as ‘the best-known house for specials’ .
History:
1884 Workshop, cottages & intervening range shown (OS 1:2500, 36.8)
1899 Little changed since 1884 (OS 1:2500)
1916 Tomalin Bros Ltd. mfrs of hand- sewn, & hand and machine welted shoes, no address
1940 Tomalin Bros, boot & shoe mfrs, Church St
1972 ‘Factory’; intervening range demolished (OS 1:2500, SP 62/63 67)
2000 Mostly vacant; workshop used as domestic outbuilding.

Romaset Cottage is an 18th century stone built house fronting Church Street to the west, at its junction with The Banks. To the rear, and offset to the north, there is a one-and-a-half-storeyed workshop which may have been connected with the boot and shoe industry. It has an entrance and a three-light window in the south front and what appears to be a blocked window in the east gable. The west gable incorporates the masonry of an earlier wall. A narrower range formerly extended eastwards to abut a row of cottages.
Facing west roughly parallel to the house at the rear of the plot, the row of three or more brick cottages appears on the 1884 and 1899 OS maps. It is gabled north-south, and to the north the original steeply pitched gable line can be seen. Originally one-and-a-half-storeyed, it was raised to two storeys at a later date; the south gable was entirely rebuilt. It is unclear whether the raising occurred as part of a conversion to industrial use in the early 20th century: the present first-floor windows in the new brickwork appear to be widenings of earlier openings, which could be either domestic or industrial in character. There is a stack of industrial appearance at the north end of the rear wall. The roof is currently of corrugated iron; the original steep pitches were probably thatched.
A long and narrow eastwards extension from the rear of the former cottages is of 20th century date. It consists of two storeys and five bays, with large windows to the north and a slate roof. The south wall is blind. A lean-to in the re-entrant is perhaps of a similar date, but has been reroofed with a shallow pitched corrugated iron roof.

<1> BALLINGER J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby (Industrial), (part checked) (Digital archive). SNN100506.

<2> Foard G.; Ballinger J., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby, (unchecked) (Report). SNN101574.

<3> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Long Buckby site 1 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<4> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 112 p.8 (unchecked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<5> Historic England, Undated, Romaset Cottage, Church Street, Long Buckby, BF103863 (Archive). SNN113468.

Record last edited

May 19 2022 12:17PM