Speedwell Works (J L And Co Ltd)

Speedwell Works (J.L. and Co. Ltd.) is a boot and shoe factory built around 1895, with some minor later additions and alterations. The factory features orange-red brick, accented with dark and blue brick dressings, and has slate roofs with end stacks. The building is arranged in a T-plan, consisting of a three-storey range with 11 windows across and 4 windows down, facing Oliver Street, and a six-window by three-window range extending to the rear. Both ranges are contemporary and made from the same brick. There is also a two-storey range, likely a warehouse, that projects southeast from the rear of the building, which appears to be original. A single-storey top-lit range that connects the front and rear ranges seems to be a later addition, although it was present by 1899.

The facade facing Oliver Street features top-opening windows with segmental arches on the ground and first floors, and flat lintels on the top floor. There is a goods entrance on the left side and a doorway at the far left of the ground floor, along with a taking-in door to the right on the second floor. The left side has similar windows. The rear wing has many large windows to maximize light for the workshops, with extra tall windows on the rear gable that have their heads positioned above the upper floors, directing light downwards through interior timber 'hoppers'. A blocked doorway on a rear corner still shows an iron crane.

Inside, the factory has seen little alteration and continues to be used for boot and shoe manufacturing. It retains its traditional layout, which includes a clicking room with benches by the windows, making and finishing rooms, last stores, a sales and management suite, and an internal hoist connecting the making rooms to the top floor stores. This factory is a significant example of a smaller facility that still produces high-quality gentlemen's shoes using traditional methods. It was largely built at the same time and maintains its internal plan along with many traditional fixtures and fittings.