Building record 1160/47 - Tricker's Shoe Factory, 54-60 St Michael's Road

Boot and shoe factory. 1880’s, remodelled and extended 1930’s. C.1912 and 1930’s. 3 ranges and house (no. 54) incorporated later as extra offices.

{1} Factory in St Michaels Road; post medieval red brick building with slate roof & three storeys; ten bays with five each side of dividing coping tiles on roof; wall hoists at both ends of building & doors on first & third storeys; stone lintels over first & second storey windows; owned by printing & stationery firm;
[NB. THIS DESCRIPTION SOUNDS LIKE THE UNICORN WORKS IN ST MICHAEL'S ROAD]

{2} Copies of phorographs taken during a RCHME and Northamptonshire Heritage visit to Tricker's Shoe Factory.

{3} c.1880 boot and shoe factory.

{4} Boot and shoe factory. 1880’s, remodelled and extended 1930’s. C.1912 and 1930’s. 3 ranges and house (no. 54) incorporated later as extra offices.
Range 1. Dark brown glazed brick façade with flat roof. 3 storeys. 4-window range at first floor of 3- and 5-light leaded mullion and transom windows with some stained glass detail in top lights. Similar windows on all floors with double entrance door to far left and part-glazed pedestrian door with overlight in next bay.
Range 2. c. 1912. Red brick with painted stone or stucco dressings and slate roof. 3 storeys. 6 wooden mullion and transom windows at first floor with taking-in door to far right. Similar windows and far right taking-in doors to other floors. Double entrance doors to far left in moulded doorcase. The front is carefully articulated by moulded brick pilasters rising from the first floor sill band to the moulded top cornice and the second floor windows have projecting brick aprons.
Range 3. 1930’s. This is a plainer version of range 2 and is a 3-window range of large iron-framed windows but the front is again articulated with pilasters and second floor window aprons.
The rear is characterised by single-, 2- and 3-storey wings and similarly large windows.
INTERIOR: Steel frame construction with boarded floors and ceilings, wooden ceiling beams and joists in part. Uses include making and finishing on ground floor, ‘closing’ on first floor, and ‘clicking’ on the second floor.
The house, now offices, incorporated within the works, is late C19. Red brick partly painted, slate roof, bracketed eaves cornice. C20 altered windows.

{5} As an ensemble the three ranges of this well-detailed factory make up a harmonious and carefully considered whole with the maximum area of fenestration as a key element. It forms part of the most significant group of boot and shoe industry buildings in Northampton.

<1> Starmer G.H., 1967, CBA Record Cards: Industrial Archaeology in Northamptonshire, (checked) (Recording Form (Not SMR)). SNN565.

<2> PAYNE P., 1998, PHOTOGRAPHS, (unchecked) (Photographs). SNN51670.

<3> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Sites 44 +45 (part checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<4> DCMS, 2003, Listing Schedule, (checked) (Schedule). SNN105168.

<5> 1998, Trickers Shoe Factory, (checked) (Slides). SNN107476.

<5> DCMS, 2003, Listing Schedule, (checked) (Schedule). SNN105168.

<6> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Sites 45 (part checked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<7> Historic England, Undated, R. E. Tricker Limited, 54-60 St. Michael's Road, Northampton, BF103479 (Archive). SNN115585.

<8> Perkins, P, Whittaker, R and Denton, A, 2022, A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Northamptonshire, p. 61/ Site 264 (Book). SNN113793.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2025 12:44PM