Derby Lace Works And S And T Barnstaple

BARNSTAPLE

SS5633 VICARAGE STREET 684-1/3/257 (North side) 31/12/73 Derby Lace Works, S & T Barnstaple

II

Lace factory, now used for storage. 1825 (old list description). Built for John Boden, `additions of 1874 and later' (Pevsner), fire-damaged in 1972 (Pevsner). Painted English bond brick; slate roof behind parapet. Large rectangular building, part of an industrial complex. Originally 4 storeys, partly reduced to 3 storeys after the 1972 fire. Regular 12-bay front, the 3 left-hand bays 4-storey. Segmental-headed windows glazed with 3-light C20 casements. Ground floor right has round-headed doorway to the right with 3 orders to the architrave, keyblock and pilastered jambs. Second doorway, probably converted from window in the 4th and 5th bay from the right. The 4-storey section at the left has one ground and one first-floor doorway and a second-floor loft doorway converted from a window. This section of the factory has an external iron staircase on fancy cast-iron brackets. Stack with cylindrical shaft at left end. INTERIOR: fireproof construction with cast-iron columns and shallow brick vaulting arches. HISTORICAL NOTE: the factory was lit by a cupola before the fire of 1972. The Derby Lace Works were opened in 1825 by Boden, who had been a partner of John Heathcoat of Tiverton. By 1830 the Derby Lace Works were employing 1,000 people and the surrounding terraced housing was built for the workers. Included for historic interest as the centrepiece of the C19 development in this part of Barnstaple, in spite of the fire damage, (Pevsner, p.158). (Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Cherry B: Devon: London: 1989-: 158).

Listing NGR: SS5618233652