Building record 1160/442 - Enterprise Factory, Bective Road

A single storey shoe factory that is believed to have been constructed in 1901. It is brick-built with a seven-bay front, facing Bective Road to the north and six north-lit ranges - gabled east-west - to the rear. The front elevation has a two-storey centrepiece with its upper storey framed by openwork buttresses; these appear to represent a monogram in the form of a capital 'L' with an attached capital 'B', intended to represent 'Lee Brothers' the firm who commissioned the construction of the factory.

{1} Boot and shoe factory. 1902. For the Lee brothers, trading as Abraham Lee. Extended by 1924. Red brick with stone and timber dressings painted white and slate roofs with many large skylights lighting the north-light sheds. Blue brick projecting stack on right gable end. Single-storey original range has Queen Anne style front. Plainer 2-storey extension to left. Central entrance to earlier range has wide entrance with rusticated segmental arch. There is a Venetian window over in a gabled attic with the end treated as an open pediment. To either side of this attic are a pair of consoles with an LB monogram in pierced stonework, probably for Lee Brothers. The main entrance has, to either side, 3 windows with rusticated jambs and segmental arched heads. Above is a timber modillion cornice. North-light sheds extend to rear. To left of this range is the extension which was in existence by 1924 and which is of 2 storeys and has 4 windows to 1st floor under shallow segmental arches and 3 to ground floor with a doorway to right. 2-storey ranges to rear. HISTORY. Abraham Lee, boot and shoe manufacturer, is noted as being here in 1906 and it is known as the Enterprise Factory in 1916 and 1924, the firm still being here in 1954.

SOURCES. EH Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Site Report No.154. Morrison, Kathryn A., with Bond, Ann, 'Built to Last? The Boot and Shoe Buildings of Northamptonshire', forthcoming, p.17 and fig.36.

This purpose-built boot and shoe factory has a carefully detailed front, and not only was it one of the first single-storey boot and shoe factories but it is one of the few pre-1st World War ones to survive. 'Built to Last?' has identified that the first footwear factories to be constructed entirely as single-storey were built in the 1890's (following other industries and also American competitors in the trade), but the early Albion Works has been demolished and the large Manfield factory of 1892 has been demolished except for its street range. Very few survive and this is a fine example.

{2} The single storey factory is an extremely vunerable building type, making surviving Victorian and Edwardian footwear factories of third type all the more rare.

{6} Abraham Lee closed down in 1956 and the premises were used by other industries. There are plans to build student accommodation here, retaining the original frontage.

<1> DCMS, 2004, Listing Schedule, (checked) (Schedule). SNN104967.

<2> Morrison K.A.; Bond A., 2004, Built To Last? The Buildings of The Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry, p.38 Fig 35 (unchecked) (Book). SNN104903.

<3> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Site 154 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<4> Melikian, M. & Townsend, S., 2005, An Archaeological Desk Based Assessment of Bective Works, Kingsthorpe, Northampton, 2005 (Report). SNN105361.

<5> Undated, Unit 3 (formerly Enterprise Factory), Bective Road, Kingsthorpe, Northampton, BF103588 (Archive). SNN113718.

<6> Perkins, P, Whittaker, R and Denton, A, 2022, A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Northamptonshire, p. 64/ Site 279 (Book). SNN113793.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 7:14PM