Building record 3980/44/1 - Gordon Shoe Works

A substantial three-storey shoe factory on the north side of Gordon Street was probably built by Walter Burlin in the late 1880s. The original factory was L shaped on plan. The main range has a nine bay main range, from the western end of which is a shorter rear range projects. The main range has a pier and panel south front of orange brick on a blue brick base. Stone details include a string course at second floor level, and window sills extending the full width of the panels. On the ground and first floors the large windows have segmental brick arches and cast-iron frames with margin glazing, while on the second floor they have stone lintels and are divided into three equal lights by cast-iron mullions of cruciform section. The original entrance is at the western end, and has a stone surround. Above it, a first floor office is indicated by a smaller than normal window with a stone lintel band and hood mould and by the remains of a stack on the south west corner. The original yard entrance occupies the easternmost bay, and a large loading doorway has been inserted in the fourth bay from the west.

{1} Gordon Works, Gordon Street. Gordon Works (Boot and Shoe) is first shown on maps of 1900 and 1926. Still in use as a shoe factory under the ownership of Thomas Grocock.

{2} At the core of the site is the late 19th century factory, an imposing three-storey L-shaped brick structure, under a slate roof. At the west corner of this is a modern flat-roofed structure, also of three storeys constructed in brick, which contained offices. This structure is linked to 41 Kettering Road by a modern warehouse and loading bay, beneath a corugated sheet roof, and a steel-framed enclosed bridge at first floor level, spanning the loading area. To the north of the office building is a rectangular enclosed yard area, with single-storey extensions to the main factory building on its east and north sides.
At the east end of the main factory building, an archway leads through the building to a large yard. Much of the south side of the yard is occupied by a large two-storey extension to the factory, built in brick, under a pitched roof with its north face glazed. The west side of the yard is formed by the main factory building, with a number of projecting structures and extensions. Filling the gap between these structures and the two-storey extension is a three-storey structure ('Utility Block') containing toilets, and providing first-floor access to the extension. From the Utility Block, a second steel-framed covered bridge at first-floor level provides access to the leather store, a complex of single-storey buildings in brick and corugated sheeting on the north side of the yard.
The L-shaped building was constructed in the late 1880's, and was in production by 1890. 41 Kettering Road was built about the same time, occupying the corner plot at the end of a terrace of houses. From map evidence, no. 41 was connected to the factory from the start, as no boundary is shown between the properties. From map evidence the factory appears to have remained unchanged until the mid 1920s. Some time after this (probably in the '30s) the three-storey office-complex and two-storey factory extension were built.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Rothwell (Industrial), (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100256.

<2> Pack K.; Zeepvat B., 2004, Archaeological Evaluation: The Old Shoe Factory, Gordon Street, Rothwell, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN104747.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1900, Second Edition OS 25 Inch Mapping Series (24.08), (checked) (Map). SNN55989.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1926, Third Edition OS Map, (checked) (Map). SNN56014.

<5> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2000, Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Survey, Rothwell Site 7 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN105075.

<6> Mountfield, P, 1982, Photographs of shoe factories in Rothwell, Photos R1-5 (Photographic prints (B&W)). SNN111525.

<7> Historic England, Undated, T Groocock & Co (formerly Gordon Shoe Works), 1 Gordon Street/41 Kettering Road, Rothwell, BF103888 (Archive). SNN113895.

Record last edited

Aug 24 2022 2:52PM