Building record 1160/0/282 - 29-33 (odd) Victoria Road

A two-storey boot and shoe factory built around 1875. Originally the premises of Francis Gibbs, after 1896 it became the leather, shoe components and grindery warehouse of GH Frecknall. This `L' shaped factory is built of brick with slate-covered pitched roofs.

{1} Two-storey, L-plan boot and shoe factory. The building is now a printing works and the street elevations have been covered in render obscuring some of the original details. The factory has been extended and remodelled several times. The original factory was rectangular in plan, gabled north-south with elevations on Victoria Road and Harold Street. The three bay Victoria Road elevation is of pier and panel construction. The fourth bay at the north end of this range originated as a separate building, probably a house occupied by the manufacturer. The two-storey nine-bay range extending along the north side of Harold Street may be combination of two buildings. The western end was by 1896 occupied by a firm of pianoforte manufacturers.

{4} The former boot and shoe factory was built around 1875 as a purpose-built boot and shoe factory, first recorded on the 1883 OS map. Remodelled between 1883 and 1899 to enlarge the Harold Street frontage and later adapted as a leather and shoe components warehouse for G.H. Frecknall & Co Ltd after 1898. Further alterations occurred after 1938, likely linked to wartime production, and by 1975 it operated as a surgical boot factory. Major internal changes were made in the early 21st century when the central yard was floored over. Despite extensive alterations, the building retains Victorian industrial features such as pier-and-panel brickwork, cast-iron windows, and roof trusses, though no original manufacturing fixtures survive. It is a much-altered but representative example of a small factory within Northampton’s Boot and Shoe Quarter.

<1> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Site 142 (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<2> Historic England, Undated, 29-33 Victoria Road, Northampton, BF103512 (Archive). SNN113863.

<3> Northampton Borough Council, 2011, Northampton's Boot and Shoe Quarter: Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, p. 34 (Report). SNN112202.

<4> Adam Garwood, 2024, Historic Building Recording of the Former Boot and Shoe Factory at No.29 Victoria Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 5ED (Report). SNN116957.

Record last edited

Nov 28 2025 2:42PM