Former G T Hawkins Factory, Part Originally Hornby And West

725/0/10044 OVERSTONE ROAD 02-DEC-03 Former G.T. Hawkins factory, part orig inally Hornby and West ST. MICHAEL'S ROAD Former G.T. hawkins factory, part orig inally Hornby and West

GV II Former Boot and shoe factory, at present vacant. Built in several phases by 2 different companies and then finally amalgamated to form a single large factory. c.1875, extended later C19. Late 1880's. 2 further ranges 1890's. Early C20 alterations. Mainly red or polychrome brick with slate roofs and iron framed windows. Range on corner of Overstone Rd. and St. Michael's Rd. c.1875, originally Hornby and West factory. 3 storeys and basement. 7-window range to each road and 2 canted bays on the corner. Facade is characterised by decorative brickwork and massive piers between windows culminating in projecting heads to top floor windows forming frieze below dentil eaves cornice. Early extension to front on Overstone Rd. and 7-window extension on St. Michael's Rd. probably of 1890's. Range on Overstone Rd. and corner of Dunster St. Late 1880's. G.T. Hawkins original factory: 3 higher storeys of mostly intact iron framed windows. 2 ornamental gables to Overstone Rd. front, and ornamental gable end to Dunster St. Ornamental entrance on Overstone Rd. First floor may have been mainly for clicking, second floor for finishing: there is a taking-in door in the middle of the Overstone Rd. front. Range on Dunster St. next to above, 1890's, built as extension to above. 3 storeys over basement. 9-window range in all of iron-framed windows and taking-in doors. The 1899 Goad plan indicates use as warehouse and factory. Range on St. Michael's Rd. to east of original Hornby and West factory. 1890's, for G.T. Hawkins. 4 high storeys over basement. 10-window range in all of wooden, mainly tripartite, windows with glazing bars. 2 facing gables are supported on tall pilaster strips. Entrance doorways and some round-arched windows on ground floor. HISTORY Between 1912 and 1916 G.T.Hawkins acquired the former Hornby and West factory adjacent to their own and began a series of alterations designed to integrate the various elements of the site both on the ground and upper floors. In the Hawkins Overstone Rd. range a director's room with panelling and a stair were introduced. An important and little-altered complex of buildings of this important period for the industry. Part of the most significant group of buildings of the boot and shoe industry in Northampton with the Globe works next door (q.v.), the curriers in Dunster St. opposite (q.v.), and the Trickers factory (q.v.) further down St. Michael's Rd. REFERENCES. English Heritage Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry Report, pp.4, 35 and 39, and Site Report No.48. Goad Insurance plan 1899.