Factory Building, Formerly Of Gifford Fox And Company Limited

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 28/04/2015

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CHARD HOLYROOD STREET (East side) Factory Building, formerly of Gifford Fox and Company Limited

(Formerly listed as: HOLYROOD STREET, CHARD OLD FACTORY BUILDING OF GIFFORD FOX AND COMPANY LIMITED)

29-JUL-76

GV II* Lace factory, now industrial units. c1820-30. Built of red brick with ball finials surmounting stepped copings of gabled slate roof. Rectangular plan. 5 storeys; 10-window range. Flat gauged brick arches over C20 windows. Large brick external stack with moulded cornicing to east elevation. Entry in mid C20 block to south. INTERIOR: fireproof construction with cast-iron columns to vaulted brick ceilings and arched iron roof trusses with circular compression members. The lace or plain net trade became established after 1820 by manufacturers who fled from the Luddite resistance they had faced in the Midlands. NOTE: A number of sources have identified that in 1848, on the 4th floor of the mill, John Stringfellow [1799-1883] achieved the first sustained powered flight with a 10-foot wingspan model aeroplane powered by a light-weight steam engine. However, there has been some suggestion that, due to the dimensions of the building, the test flight may have taken place at another site. The flight was repeated in a marquee in Cremorna Gardens, London, later in 1848. The model aeroplane and the steam engine were designed and built by Stringfellow, probably in his workshops behind his house, No.121 High Street, listed grade II. Stringfellow was a bobbin and carriage maker from Nottingham. SOURCES: [1]Buchanan CA: Industrial Archaeology of Central Southern England: London: 1980-: P.123. [2] Penrose, H., An Ancient Air, Airlife Publishing Ltd. 1988.

Listing NGR: ST3223808450