North East Terrace Oldbury Cottage

This is a terrace of 16 houses, known as North East Terrace, with an attached cottage called Oldbury Cottage, located in Tewkesbury. Originally built in 1825 as a lace and stocking-knitting factory for George Freeman, the building was enlarged around 1860 for Samuel Massey Crosse, and later converted into houses around 1900.

The building is constructed of modified English garden wall bond brickwork, with a slate roof and brick stacks. It extends at right angles to East Street, accessed through a wide carriage arch between numbers 16 and 17. A short wing returns at the far end, incorporating Oldbury Cottage and backing onto Trinity School Walk. The front (west) elevation has two storeys and an attic, with 15 windows along the west side and 16 on the east. Windows are varied, mainly three-light casements set within wide segmental-headed openings at both levels, separated by narrow brick piers. The rear (east) elevation mirrors the front, with arched openings and small roof skylights, alongside single-storey extensions. Sixteen square brick ridge stacks each feature four cream terracotta pots. The northern gable retains two original wide windows with small-pane glazing at the first floor level.

Internally, the building was originally austere with no internal columns. Following the conversion to houses around 1900, it was subsequently divided into separate dwellings.

Historically, this was the first and largest textile factory in Tewkesbury. Built to house 37 transverse warp bobbin net machines, it was established to benefit from the local skilled stocking industry. A steam engine was introduced by the mid-1830s. In 1853, George Freeman retired, and the factory remained vacant until 1860 when Samuel Massey Crosse enlarged the building and installed power looms powered by a 12hp Edwards Beam Engine, which also provided central heating. Crosse’s company, ‘The Patent Renewable Hosiery Company’, ceased operations after his death in 1860, but reopened in 1862. By around 1900, the factory was finally closed and converted into residential use. The terrace, along with surrounding workers’ cottages, provides an important reminder of Tewkesbury’s industrial past, particularly the prominent stocking knitting industry which replaced the declining woolen cloth industry in the 17th and 18th centuries.