The Factory Chimney: Some Technical Aspects

Abstract

Outworking was widespread across England, its mundane buildings and landscapes often very functional in nature, yet they represent an important inheritance. Their recentness and familiarity may however militate against them, resulting in patchy and inconsistent protection and curation. Appreciating the nature of outworking is dependant upon the quality of such extant buildings and landscapes, but this poses problems for formal protection, especially where research has been modest. Our understanding and conservation of these assets is investigated by considering outworking in the East Midlands as a case study. Framework-knitting, lace and the boot and shoe industries were important economic staples in this region during the 19th-century, resulting in the expansion of many cities, towns and villages where outworking housing, workshops and masters' houses were essential elements of production.