Hatherton Works

Hatherton Works is a factory building for the leather goods industry, constructed in 1901 by Hickton and Farmer. It is made of red brick with stone dressings and features a slate roof. The building is three storeys high and has an L-shape that faces two streets, with an open yard at the rear.

At the corner of the building, there is a chamfered bay, which, along with half bays on Ball Road and Hotshill Lane, creates a prominent frontispiece defined by pilaster strips that elegantly turn the corner. The central section has double panelled doors at ground floor level, topped by a cambered arch leading to a fanlight. Above the doors, there are alternating stone and brick voussoirs beneath a shallow gablet.

On the first floor, there is a cross window, while the second floor features a taller window with 2x3 panes and a cambered head that extends into the gable, which also has alternating brick and stone voussoirs. The half-bays are flanked by pilaster strips, and there is a ramped parapet on either side of the angle-gable.

On the Ball's Hill side, there are three additional bays with cambered-headed windows on the ground floor, and stone lintels with flat-headed windows on the first and second floors. The left bay has a gable that projects with a cambered-headed window on the second floor. The facade facing Hotshill Lane is similar, consisting of five bays with a gabled bay at the centre. Most windows are timber, featuring three lights divided by mullions and a transom.

Hatherton Works is a well-preserved example of a medium-sized leather goods factory, representing the peak of the leather industry in Walsall during the early 20th century.