The Goldcroft Glove Company Works And Entrance Gates

The Goldcroft Glove Company Works and entrance gates is a building dating from 1855, as indicated by a date plaque on the wall of the original main block. It is located on Eastland Road in Yeovil and was used for leather and glove production. The structure is built from local stone in a random coursed pattern, with some brick piers featuring timber infill at a high level, and it has slated roofs.

The main block, which faces Eastland Road, is four storeys tall and has a double pitch gable end valley roof. It features six arched windows at the lowest level, all of which are now blocked, and two windows with semi-circular arched heads at both the first and second floor levels, along with central doors on each of these floors. A hoist and roller tackle project from the building. The return elevations match the main façade.

Inside, brick piers extend through the full height of the building. The floors are level and made of broad elm boards, except at the attic level where smaller boards alternate with gaps between the joists. This upper storey was used for drying wool from the skins, and the gaps, along with louvres in the timber infill of the outer walls, aided this process. The original steam-powered machinery has been converted to electric power and dates from the early 20th century; it includes combing tanks and dressing drums.

At the rear of the site, there is a second, later building that runs parallel to the main block, connected by a 20th-century single-storey link block made of concrete blocks with a corrugated asbestos sheet roof. The main entrance off Eastland Road features a pair of slid cast iron gate piers and open ironwork gates. This glove works is one of the few remaining examples of Yeovil's principal industry and is considered the best and most complete illustration of the glove-making process, which is why it has been included in the heritage register.