Morton's Works (former Carpet Manufacturing Company)

Carpet making factory built in 1869-70 to designs by J G Bland for James Morton and Sons, with extensions in 1878, 1897 and the early 20th century. The building is constructed of red brick with blue brick string courses and stone dressings. Welsh slate roofs are finished with crested ridge tiles and corbelled brick eaves cornices. Brick axial stacks serve the offices.

The works are planned around a courtyard at the north end. The west side contains a large three-storey 20-bay office building housing offices, design rooms, stores and packing departments. A five-storey water tower and stair tower occupy the north west corner. The north side has a two-storey nine-bay yarn and pattern store, with a later 19th-century two-storey eight-bay yarn store added alongside. An entrance gateway and caretaker's lodge are located at the north east corner. The east side is dominated by two large dyehouses with a range of two-storey warehouses at the south end.

South of the courtyard stands a three-storey range of stores, winding and finishing rooms. Beyond this are the single-storey north-light weaving sheds with seven original bays, extended by four bays in 1878 and later by six further bays. The engine house at the north east corner of the weaving sheds and the boiler house, chimney and drying rooms at the centre of the courtyard have been demolished. The architecture combines Italianate and simplified Gothic styles.

The west elevation facing New Road displays 19 bays of weaving shed, each with a two-light window and circular window in the gable above. To the left, the large three-storey 20-bay office range features corbelled stringcourses and sash windows with depressed two-centred arches. The five-storey two-bay water tower at the north west corner has three tall narrow lights to the top stage, a pyramidal roof with weather vane and bracketed eaves cornice.

The north elevation facing Dixon Street shows a stair tower against the water tower with staggered stair windows and an arcaded parapet on a corbel table. Nine bays with depressed two-centred arch windows and pilasters between extend to the left, with an eight-bay range projecting further. A carriageway and two-storey gabled lodge occupy the left side.

The east elevation facing Green Street features two ranges of dyehouses with blind arcades of depressed two-centred arches and lantern roofs with louvred ventilators. To the left a range of two-storey warehouses with depressed two-centred arch windows completes this elevation.

The interior of the stair tower contains open-well stairs with an iron balustrade and wreathed mahogany handrail. The dyehouses originally had wooden trusses, now replaced in concrete, but retain floors of blue brick with cast-iron drainage channel covers. The original weaving sheds are fitted with cast-iron beams.

In 1890, James Morton and Sons amalgamated with Richard Smith and Sons to form the Carpet Manufacturing Company. The buildings are no longer used for carpet manufacturing and are now let as industrial units.