Stephen Simpson Limited

This is a mid-19th century office and works complex with an attached factory to the rear, built in 1844 for Isaac Simpson, a manufacturer of gold thread and plate. The complex has undergone later alterations and additions.

The building is primarily of red brick in a Flemish garden wall bond pattern, with sandstone dressings and slate roofs. However, No.44 is constructed of Accrington brick in a stretcher bond, with concrete dressings and metal window frames. The design evolved from a pair of houses (Nos.42 and 43), with later back extensions linked to a contemporary factory built across the two back yards. No.44 was purchased in 1863, rebuilt in 1935 and subsequently extended to the rear, while Nos.41 and 45 were incorporated into the complex in the 20th century.

No.41 features a first-floor sill band, a plain frieze and cornice with mutules, a former domestic doorway with a pilaster doorcase, panelled door, overlight, and cornice. A 20th-century office doorway is located to the right, alongside a cellar window, a single ground-floor window with altered glazing, and three plain sashes at the first floor, all with wedge lintels. Numbers 42 and 43 are three storeys high with a four- and two-window range, featuring a first-floor sill band that ramps down, a plain frieze, and a moulded cornice. A workshop doorway with a stone surround sits at the junction between Nos. 42 and 43, alongside a raised 20th-century taking-in doorway. Ground-floor windows include two plain sashes in No.42 and an altered 12-pane sash in No.43. First-floor windows are 12-pane sashes in both, while the second floor features four plain sashes in No.42 and three 12-pane windows with swivel casement tops in No.43. No.44, built of Accrington brick, has full-width metal-framed windows on all floors, including taking-in doors at ground floor. A concrete plaque below the first-floor window reads "REBUILT SS 1935" and the building has a stepped parapet with concrete coping. No.45, to the right, is a low two-storey, one-window range with an enlarged ground-floor window and a 12-pane sash with margin panes at first floor. A cast-iron plaque lettered "45" and a lead downspout dated 1844 are also present.

The rear factory is a four-storey, seven-window range with a circular stair turret on the west side and an extruded square chimney in the north-east corner. It has 30-pane windows with swivel-casement top openings on the east side, and a full-height four-window link to No.42.

The factory interior includes a spiral staircase and bolted kingpost roof trusses with fishbone struts, while the back extension of No.42 contains a blocked kitchen fireplace. No.42 was formerly the home of Isaac Simpson, the founder, from 1842 to 1852. The complex is notable as a rare example of industrial premises developed from domestic origins and is associated with Stephen Simpson's works on the opposite side of the street.