Former Lace Factory, Stathern, Leicestershire

Summary

A late-C19 former lace factory, extended in the late C19 or early C20 and altered in the C20.

Description

A late-C19 former lace factory, extended in the late C19 or early C20 and altered in the C20.

MATERIALS: constructed of brick, the roof is covered with slate. The late-C19 or early-C20 extension is under a clay tiled roof.

PLAN: rectangular on plan, the building has a small lean-to extension on its south elevation.

EXTERIOR: the principal façade faces west and has a regular fenestration over four bays and two storeys. Each bay has a large multi-pane window to the ground and first floors under brick segmental arches and with brick sills. The windows are steel with an opening upper section. The west elevation is in Flemish bond with burnt headers to create a chequerboard effect. The other elevations are in a variety of bonds. The building is on a sloping site with the ground falling to the north. A brick cornice carries around the gables of the north and south elevations of the building, stepping in to create a broken-base pediment effect. On the north elevation a brick arch is partially visible beneath the sloping ground and was presumably originally an opening to the basement. The brickwork of this elevation contains a decorative burnt brick diamond design at the apex of the gable. A chimney above has been dismantled and a small window to the attic storey is situated just below. The east elevation is identical to the west with four large windows to each storey but without the decorative chequerboard brickwork. The south elevation contains the late-C19 or early-C20 lean-to extension which has a brick chimney stack at its east end. To the left is the building’s principal entrance which has been enlarged in the C20 with the original flat brick arch visible above. A C20 hoist is attached to the building, manufactured by Herbert Morris of Loughborough. At the centre of the apex on the attic storey is a further single light casement window under a segmental brick arch.

INTERIOR: the building has a single room on the ground and first floors with the first floor supported by substantial ceiling joists to support machinery. There are chamfered brick piers between the windows and a timber step ladder at the south-west end of the room. The ground floor has a projecting brick plinth of two courses and may indicate a slightly higher original floor level. The first floor contains an identical open space with smaller ceiling joists supporting the attic storey and a further Morris hoist and inserted steel joist above the stair well.

The attic storey contains an inserted cloakroom, with much of the roof structure on this level concealed by C20 boarding. The timber roof trusses are of queen post roof construction, with the straining beam sawn through and raised to provide access between the bays. On the north gable wall, a brick flue is in situ, continuing across all of the floors, with the chimney truncated.

The interior of the late-C19 or early-C20 extension contains a large brick furnace and a timber roof structure.

History

Lace has been produced in Nottingham and the surrounding areas since the late-C18. From the mid-C19 onwards the production started to move into factories and machines powered by steam were introduced. During this period a small-scale factory was constructed in the village of Stathern, about 15 miles to the south-east of Nottingham. The factory was constructed in the late-C19 and is understood to have been operated by the same family of lace makers until the early-C20, with the factory noted to contain Leavers machines. The factory was constructed for John and George Braithwaite, likely in around 1881 when a local newspaper article noted that the firm were considering enlarging the establishment and introducing steam power. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1884 depicts the factory in its original square plan form. By the 1930 map, the building had been extended to the south with an L-shaped plan shown by this date.

In the early C20 the ownership of the building changed and the lace production at the site ceased. The building was thereafter used as an engineering works and a number of alterations as part of this change were made to the building over the course of C20. This includes the widening of the original entrance to the building, with the original brick arch visible over the inserted steel joist. Any machinery associated with lace manufactory was removed and the attic storey was altered, with the building’s roof trusses sawn through to create access between the bays. At an unknown date in the C20 the building’s basement was also blocked off with access no longer possible.

Reasons for Listing

The former lace factory in Stathern, constructed in around 1881, is listed for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* despite the building being primarily utilitarian in nature it has some good architectural detailing including brick cornice and decorative Flemish bond principal façade creating a ‘chequerboard’ effect;
* the building has seen relatively little alteration and its original use is legible with C19 windows and open factory floors, alterations related to its later use as an engineering works have been relatively minor in nature.

Historic interest:

* as an interesting and rare survival of a small-scale village factory, linked to the prolific local lace industry which originated in Nottingham in the late C18.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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