Factory Building, Formerly of Gifford Fox and Company Limited

FACTORY BUILDING, FORMERLY OF GIFFORD FOX AND COMPANY LIMITED, HOLYROOD STREET

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed building
List Entry Number:
1197481
Date first listed:
29-Jul-1976
Statutory Address:
FACTORY BUILDING, FORMERLY OF GIFFORD FOX AND COMPANY LIMITED, HOLYROOD STREET
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Location

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Date:
2000-08-23
Reference:
IOE01/01628/16
Rights:
© Mr Richard Bland. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed building
List Entry Number:
1197481
Date first listed:
29-Jul-1976
Date of most recent amendment:
13-Dec-1993
Statutory Address 1:
FACTORY BUILDING, FORMERLY OF GIFFORD FOX AND COMPANY LIMITED, HOLYROOD STREET

Location

Statutory Address:
FACTORY BUILDING, FORMERLY OF GIFFORD FOX AND COMPANY LIMITED, HOLYROOD STREET

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:
Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Chard Town
National Grid Reference:
ST 32238 08450

Details

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

756-1/4/160

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

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
374178
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Penrose, H, An Ancient Air, (1988)
Buchanan, , Buchanan, , Batsford Guide to Industrial Archaeology Central Southern England, (1980)

Legal

Ordnance survey map of Factory Building, Formerly of Gifford Fox and Company Limited

Map

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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