Building record 2878/39/1 - Joseph Cheaney & Sons, Rushton Road/Regent Street

A large shoe factory that was built in 1896 as the new premises for Joseph Cheaney and Sons who had moved from 68 Station Road, Desborough. Red brick with concrete tile roof (1896 range) and brown brick with parapeted flat roof (1930’s range). 2 Storeys. Earlier range faces Regent Street. In 1967 Cheaneys amalgamated with Churches of Northampton but continued to make high-quality men's shoes on this site.

{1} Boot and shoe factory. 1896 and 1930’s. For Joseph Cheaney. Red brick with concrete tile roof (1896 range) and brown brick with parapeted flat roof (1930’s range). 2 Storeys. Earlier range faces Regent Street. 8-window range at first floor of cast-iron framed windows under round-arched heads. Similar on ground floor with entrance to centre right and altered window to left, probably steel-framed under flat lintel, which is similar to the 2-storey 1930’s range to left. This is a 5-window range and returns to link with the probably 1970’s extension. The front to Rushden Road is also of the 1930’s and is in similar style with a 5-window range to left of the centre goods entrance and a 3-window range to right for the offices. This has an entrance in the centre. The austere front has panels of brickwork with raised lines emphasising the horizontal lines of the block. This is followed by the lines of the 1970’s extension to right.
INTERIOR. This factory retains particularly well the characteristic interior of a boot and shoe factory with the making room on the ground floor, the pit for soaking shaped leather pieces, the humidifier room, the 1st floor clicking room, conveyor belt system in the finishing room, last racks, hoist mechanism and leather storage loft.

The world famous firm of Joseph Cheaney and Sons Ltd. was founded in 1886, was in Desborough by 1893 and established on the current site in 1896. By 1924 the factory had been extended to Rushton Road behind the original range with probably a north-light shed. There was a major extension in the 1930’s and another smaller one probably in the 1970’s. In 1967 the firm amalgamated with the equally famous Church’s of Northampton and it continues to make high-quality men’s shoes.
This boot and shoe company has continued to manufacture footwear on the same site for over a century. The factory is a very good example of a characteristic of the industry, i.e. of a factory which extended to meet expansion in order to remain close to the workforce base rather then move to a new site. It retains the evolved characteristic interior. It is only rivalled by Crockett and Jones (q.v.) and Grensons (q.v.) in having continued to make footwear on the same site for over a century.

{2} History:
1883 Not depicted (OS 1:2500, XXIV.3)
1886 Firm of Joseph Cheaney, shoemakers, founded
1893 Joseph Cheaney, mfrs of mens and boys riveted, machine sewn and standard-screwed boots and shoes
1896 Firm established on current site
1898 Factory on Regent St and house (?) on Rushton Road shown (OS 1:2500)
1924 'Boot factory' shown extended to Rushton Rd behind original factory (OS 1:2500)
1929 J. Cheaney and Son
1940 Joseph Cheaney and Sons, Rushton Rd
1976 'Factory' shown extended to north west since 1924; house demolished (OS 1:2500, SP80/81 83)
1999 Joseph Cheaney and Sons Ltd
This large shoe factory originated on Regent Street in 1896. It was built for Joseph Cheaney and Sons who moved from earlier premises, thought to have been at 68-70 Station Road. The factory was considerably expanded between then and 1924, acquiring a second frontage on Rushton Road, and the company history notes further major developments in the 1930s. In 1967 Joseph Cheaney and Sons amalgamated with Church's of Northampton.

Cheaney's original factory is an eight-bay, two-storey building fronting Regent Street to the south west. It is built in hard red brick and the roof is now covered in concrete tiles. All the openings on the front elevation, including the entrance in the fourth bay from the south east, have semicircular brick heads, with the exception of one altered ground floor window at the north west end. The windows have blue brick sills and cast iron window frames, which appear to be original. The entrance is emphasised by stone imposts. Later extensions obscure the rear of the building. The 1898 OS map shows the factory occupying the southern corner of a largely empty plot, while in the northern corner, set back from Rushton Road, there is what appears to be a house.

Map evidence indicates that the factory was extended to the rear before 1924, stretching north-eastwards as far as Rushton Road. Much of this phase is currently obscured by later additions, but it appears to be of north-lit single-storey form. The two-storey range fronting Rushton Road, however, is stylistically of the 193 Os, and must indicate a redevelopment of at least part of the extension within thirty or forty years of its construction. It may be contemporary with the much plainer extension north-westwards along Regent Street; both probably form part of what the company history refers to as the ‘major developments’ of the 1930s. The two ranges have in common a red-brown brick, concrete dressings, flat roofs and large steel window frames.

The nine-bay Rushton Road block now constitutes the main entrance to the factory, and is the more elaborate of the two 1 930s ranges. The ground floor has a form of pier-and-panel walling, giving vertical accents. The first floor, by contrast, has continuous lintels and sills to the mostly two-light windows, giving a strong horizontal emphasis. The horizontal emphasis is reinforced by triplets of raised brick bands close to the corners and flanking the loading bay at first-floor and parapet level, which produce an effect akin to elongated quoins. The horizontal lines are broken only by the loading bay, asymmetrically placed four bays from the west, which is treated as a simple frontispiece and given a slightly higher parapet bearing the company name. The large ground-floor entrance has a limestone surround. The three bay section to the west side incorporates the office entrance, which has a surround of tiles and vitrolite (?). The panelled doors open via a lobby into a reception area that retains elements of its original décor, such as panelling. The offices occupy the whole of these three bays, and incorporate a canted bay window on the west return. The five bays to the east of the loading bay appear to light the factory floor, which appears to have overlooked a yard between the factory and the house.

The plain Regent Street extension is built against the north-west gable of the 1896 factory, and has a five-bay south-west front and a three-bay angled return, subsequently extended. Separate access to this range was not provided. A roadway runs on the north side of the block and may have led to a loading door, although later repairs and extensive ivy growth obscure any evidence for this.

Added to the west side of the Rushton Road block is a concrete-framed two-storey extension, probably dating from the 1970s. This appears to have necessitated the demolition of the suggested house, and largely infilled the former yard. To the rear it was linked to the Regent Street extension.

{5} Boot and Shoe Factory originated in late 19th century and developed and expanded in early 20th century. Still in use for original function owned by 'Joseph Cheaney and Sons Ltd'.

{7} This large shoe factory was built in 1896 as the new premises for Joseph Cheaney and Sons who had moved from 68 Station Road, Desborough. The factory was extended in the 1920s. In 1967 Cheaneys amalganated with Churches of Northampton but contine to make high-quality men's shoes on this site.

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

<2> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Site 1 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<3> Morrison K.A.; Bond A., 2004, Built To Last? The Buildings of The Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry, p.23 (unchecked) (Book). SNN104903.

<5> Ballinger, J, 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Desborough (Industrial), (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100502.

<6> Mountfield, P, 1982, Photographs of shoe factories in Desborough, Photo D2 (Photographic prints (B&W)). SNN111526.

<7> Morrison K.A.; Bond A., 2004, Built To Last? The Buildings of The Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry (Book). SNN104903.

<8> Historic England, Littlestone & Goodwin Ltd, Elgee Works (formerly Co-operation Shoe Factory), Victoria Street, Desborough, BF103787 (Archive). SNN115407.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 7:20PM