SNN110946 - Chelsea Works, St Michaels Road, Kettering: Archaeological building recording, 2016

Planning consent was been granted for the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of 14 dwellings at Chelsea Works, St Michaels Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire (ket/2015/0386). The buildings are part of a blacking factory associated with the boot and shoe industry and the planning permission included a condition (10) requiring historic building recording. Albion Archaeology was commissioned to produce a written scheme of investigation and undertake the historic building recording. The building survey was undertaken between 22nd and 24th of August 2016. The site occupies a rectangular plot on the south side of St Michaels Road with the east end of the factory on Garfield Street. The main factory buildings occupy the eastern part of the plot. It is single storied with one three-storied section on the St Michael’s Road frontage and basement extending below the north-east part of building. The front range has a gabled roof and the workshops behind it have sawtooth roofs. A yard occupies the eastern part of the plot. This contained a row of brick buildings along the south side which included a workshop with brackets for a line shaft. Historic maps show that St Michael’s Road had been laid out by 1899 but had not been developed. Historic trade directories show that Caswell & Co boot polish manufacturers moved to the St Michael’s Road site between 1910 and 1914. Historic maps show the factory was completed in its final form before 1924 Caswell’s brand product was ‘Chelsea’ boot polish or dubbin which was marketed in tins with a picture of a Chelsea pensioner on the lid. Later use for the production of paint and antibacterial surface coatings had left little evidence for the former use as a blacking or polish factory. The main part of the factory consists of workshops covered by sawtooth roofs supported on cast iron pillars creating open, general purpose work areas. The three storied section of the factory had openings for a lift or hoist extending through the basement, ground, first and second floors. This area was lit with large windows and is likely to have been used for part of the production or packaging process. A detached workshop at the rear of the factory yard contained brackets for a line shaft indicating that it once contained belt powered machinery.