By Ruth Pott-Negrine
Published on Mon Jan 24 09:54:11 GMT 2011
CAST an eye over The Mounts, the town centre area of Northampton where the swimming baths and Chronicle Echo offices are, and you might at first glance see nothing more than converted factories and row after row of terraced houses.
And in a sense, you would not be wrong.
For the area’s characteristics – the factories, the buildings standing imposingly on the corner of every street, those houses – are redolent of Northampton’s boot and shoe trade and now plans are afoot for it to become a conservation area, celebrating the industry which put it on the map.
Officers at Northampton Borough Council have drawn up three different boundaries for the proposed area, which takes in about 70 per cent of the surviving boot and shoe buildings. A consultation on the plans, which runs until mid-March, gives people a chance to comment on the different proposals with past exercises throwing up not just their views, but historical information and photographs about how areas used to be, increasing our knowledge of the town in which we live.
“Northampton is world famous for its boot and shoe industry, which developed in a very short space of time and there are particular characteristics of it,” explained Jane Jennings, Northampton Borough Council principal planning officer.
“There are long straight streets, a continuous roof line, the beating heart of industry in among the houses, with churches, shops and schools also in the area. The houses largely front the street with no front gardens.
“It’s about celebrating what Northampton is internationally famous for and certainly, everyone should be proud because it’s really important. We want to highlight it, recognise it, celebrate it.”
The consultation will give the borough council a chance to gauge support for the proposals and, if and when the streets and buildings are designated part of a conservation area, residents will need planning permission to make certain changes so it retains its characteristics.
There are several conservation areas in Northampton and further afield, with areas such as Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter nationally recognised. While it is too early to talk about signs on lamp posts and designating it the Northampton Boot and Shoe quarter, Jane said there would be scope to brand the area which in turn, could bring investment.
“This type of development was one of the characteristics of the 19th century and you tended to get it a lot, like Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and the cutlery works in Sheffield,” explained senior conservation officer Jenny Ballinger. “One of the things that was key about it in comparison to industry nowadays was that it was all interwoven within the same area, so there were factories sitting alongside terraced houses which sat alongside social clubs close to churches and schools. It’s very different to how we do it nowadays.
“A survey found a number of buildings were listed as representative of the industry and we need to get that full range. What we also found is there are buildings within this area with very similar workshops because there was a tradition of people working within their gardens.”
Once the consultation ends, council officers will go through the results and the conservation area plans will move on from there. Plans are available online, as well as at a number of roadshow events run by Jane and her team.
“What is crucial is that we recognise, celebrate and highlight these characteristics which are extremely important to the appearance of the area.”
How area developed
TWO hundred years ago, the The Mounts area of Northampton was open fields.
While there were factories in Northampton, such as one close to the Holy Sepulchre Church area, the rows of terraced streets close to the Racecourse hadn’t yet been conceived.
Then, between 1840 and 1850, the beginnings of a 40-year transformation which made Northampton the footwear capital of Britain began. The factories, houses and other buildings which were built for the trade are still standing today and now, the borough council hope it can become a conservation area designated to highlight, protect and promote its heritage.
As in other towns and cities, there was significant development at the time as Britain evolved in thrall to the industrial revolution. Some of Northampton’s boot and shoe buildings have since disappeared but many remain, about three-quarters of them falling inside the proposed conservation area boundary.
Its characteristics include the way the houses were built, in long, straight streets with no front gardens, their workshops and their close proximity to factories and key buildings such as churches and schools.
“The buildings extended from Upper and Lower Mounts outwards, where there were largely red brick kilns,” explained Jane Jennings, borough council built and natural environment team leader.
“There is a regular street pattern and it’s a very effective use of land. You could live and work in the same area and most people would walk to work.
“I think what we can see from the area is how the industry developed from a craft industry to a very mechanical industry with the likes of Crockett and Jones, who were big manufacturers.”
Some of the houses were built for factories but many were speculative. While the houses are two-storey (and factories three) they are of different sizes and so were home not only to workers but factory owners.
“If you look closely at the area there are subtle nuances and are embellishments on some of the houses. There’s a school of thought that says perhaps the embellishments identify particular crafts and the work people did in the factories.
“It adds to the overall character.”
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