Monument record 1160/252/1 - Dickens Bros Leather Works, Kettering Road

Main factory building built in 1900. The factory is a rectangular three storey building with gabled ends. It is typically built in red brick, roofed in Welsh slate and has blue brick door jambs and window sills. A main architectural design feature of the building’s interior is a twin colonnade of cast-iron columns, on three levels, which provide the main internal structural support system up to third floor level.

{1} History:
1900 Factory built
1912 Listed in Goad Index as J. Dickens Leather Works
1971 'Leather Works' (OS map)
1999 Dickens Brothers Leather Works

The main building, gabled north-south, has three storeys and an attic and occupies the west end of the yard. It is built in a red brick with blue brick door jambs and window sills. All the openings, unless otherwise indicated, have segmental heads. The main building appears to be relatively unaltered except for the insertion of ventilator trunking and fans in various places. The works and office entrances are in a single bay at the south end of the six-bay east elevation. The office is on the second floor and has timber sashes. Placed mid-way along this floor is an oriel window probably to provide a view of the yard from the office. The top floor has large, regularly spaced windows with flat heads rising into the eaves. The window frames have six opening lights to provide controlled ventilation for the leather storage and drying floors; similar frames, but in segmental-headed openings, are in the four-bay south gable. Additional leather storage is provided in the attic which is lit by two large sash windows in the gable end. On the west side of the gable is a large stack which may be part of the air circulation system for leather drying. The flat-roofed, lean-to structure running along almost the entire east side of the ground floor was built as a loading area before the 1920s; it is shown on the 1924 OS 1:2500 map and retains its concertina timber loading doors.

{2} Dickens Brothers Ltd is a small family company, which has been producing leather since 1897. Originally operating as leather dressers, now only finishes leather. 6 cottages were demolished on the site to allow the factory to be built by William John Dickens in 1899/1900. The entrance gateway was in existence before this date. In 1903 John Dickens dies and his sons took over the company, forming Dickens Brothers in 1921.

{3} In November 2019 a detailed building recording survey was undertaken prior to its conversion to residential apartments. The report includes a detailed history of the building and company with oral history and photographs from the private collection of former director, Mr Brian Roy Dickens.

<1> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Northampton site 40 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<2> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue 95 p.8 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

<3> Wilson, M, 2020, Former Dickens Brothers Ltd, Leather Manufactory, Kettering Road, Northampton: Historic Building Record (Report). SNN112011.

<4> Crank, N. (Editor), 2020, South Midlands Archaeology (50), p. 91-3 (Journal). SNN112426.

Record last edited

Apr 16 2021 3:57PM