Former Donisthorpe and Company Limited factory building overlooking River Soar

This is a former factory building, constructed in the 18th century by Donisthorpe and Company Limited, overlooking the River Soar. The building is rectangular in plan, with an added structure at the north end. It is constructed of red brick with a hipped roof covered in slates laid to diminishing courses. The building is three storeys and attics in height, and seven bays wide, with the central three bays slightly advanced below an open pediment. The window openings are set beneath shallow segmental arches and are fitted with wooden cross window frames with glazing bars. Ground floor windows are tall openings, and some have been boarded over. Part of the north end and the south end lack ground floor windows. The east front was recently revealed by the removal of later additions, showing door openings at half landing level to the upper floors and a blocked opening at ground floor level to the north end bay. A central hexagonal cupola with a lead-covered domed roof, originally topped with a weathervane (now removed), rises from the roof. Four small dormer windows light the attic floor. An attached building at the north end features shallow full-height buttresses to the side walls and clerestory-like windows at eaves level on the west elevation. This north extension was not visible in its current form in George Henton’s 1893 painting of the site, and a large opening has subsequently been formed in the building’s north gable. The mill interior features tall timber queen-post roof trusses with collars, angle struts, and squat ashlar posts, creating a large central roof space. The roof slopes are underboarded. Bridging beams on the lower floors are supported by a variety of iron columns, some with bolting faces for brackets to support line shafting. The column arrangement is inconsistent, suggesting gradual introduction in response to increased floor loadings and powered processes. The building has been cleared of machinery and fixtures and fittings of special interest, as has the north end addition.