Pin Factory annexe to Folk of Gloucester

Summary

Timber-framed barn converted to a pin factory in the C18 and then museum. Now (2024) in use as a community heritage project called the Folk of Gloucester.

Reasons for Designation

The former Pin Factory Annexe, a timber-framed barn converted to pin factory annexe in the C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an interesting example of an early timber-framed barn that has been retained and converted for use as part of Gloucester’s flourishing C18 pin making industry;
* the survival of features such as timber-framed northern gable and later features important to its use as a pin factory annexe, including reinforced timber-frame, horizontal sliding sash windows and large stack.

Historic interest:

* as an important physical reminder associated with Gloucester’s pin making industry and its expansion during the C18, resulting in many small workshops being established throughout the City;
* for its association with William Crowther, a prominent Gloucestershire figure and the pin making workshop he established which became Messrs Beard, Kirby and Co, a significant name within the pin making industry throughout the C19.

Group value:

* for its associated with the conversion of number 99-101 Westgate Street (Grade II*) and 103 Westgate Street (Grade II*), both of which were utilised as pin making workshops and later museums.

History

From the late C16 until the mid-C19 pin making was an important industry in Gloucester, with John Tilsley firmly establishing the industry in the City during the C17 and the decline of Dutch competition leading to its expansion in the C18. By the C19 pin making was Gloucester’s main industry, with 9 brass pin manufacturers employing approximately 1500 people and exporting across the world.

The former Pin Factory Annexe is located behind 97 Westgate Street and is now connected to 99 Westgate Street. The building was constructed as an independent timber-framed barn during the C16 and elements of this earlier building survive in the northern gable end.

During the mid to late-C18 the building was extensively altered to create an ancillary workshop for the pin factory that William Cowcher had set up in 99 Westgate Street from 1743. The pin factory ran until 1853 when it relocated to Birmingham and for most of that time was known as Messrs. Kirby, Beard and Co. It has been speculated that the Pin Factory Annexe may have housed early mechanised pin making machinery brought to Gloucester from America. It is known that such a machine was brought by the firm Messrs. Kirby, Beard and Co and it has been suggested that the reinforced nature of the second-floor and the lack of fireplaces associated with the large chimney stack (which could have been a flue for a steam boiler at ground-floor level) may provide evidence that it was located in this building. However, this cannot be confirmed.

The C18 alteration to the building included the infilling of the timber-frame at ground-floor level, the addition of a brick third storey, the introduction of horizontal sliding sash windows along the west elevation. The large chimney located in the south-east corner was probably inserted in the early C19 and originally connected to a forge or boiler on the ground-floor. From 1900-1933 the annexe was used as part of the undertakers which occupied 99 Westgate Street.

The building was restored by Gloucester City Council in 1935 for use as a workshop associated with the Folk Museum in 99-101 Westgate Street and is now an ancillary space for the Folk of Gloucester, a community heritage project.

Details

Timber-framed barn converted to a pin factory in the C18 and then museum. Now (2024) in use as a community heritage project called the Folk of Gloucester.

MATERIALS: timber-frame construction with infills of both wattle and daub and C17 and C18 brick, with rebuilt third storey in red brick and red brick stack to the south-east. The pitched roof is of plain tiles.

PLAN: a rectangular range of four bays located to the rear of 97 Westgate Street but associated with 99 Westgate Street.

EXTERIOR: all elevations are mostly constructed of C17 brick other, however the top storey has been raised and is constructed of C18 brick. The west elevation has three bands of horizontal sliding sash windows with glazing bars. At ground floor level the band of windows is only partially visible and a door has been inserted. The east and south elevations have some timber-framing elements and the northern elevation retains some C16 timber-framing in square panels set on a brick dwarf wall and capped by the tie-beam of the original gable. The southern elevation is of plain brick with modern fire exit at ground floor level.

INTERIOR: the ground and first-floor are laid out as large open rooms and have exposed timber uprights supported on brick piers with bridging beams supported by curved struts. The ground-floor is laid with red sandstone paving slabs while the first and second-floor are timber boarded. A C21 staircase has been introduced at the northern-end providing access to all levels. The northern gable is plastered at ground-floor level but has exposed square panel C16 timber-framing at first-floor level culminating in the tie-beam of the original gable. The first-floor is partitioned from the staircase by a stud wall with C19 plank door. The third-floor has several exposed king post trusses ceiled over at the mid-point. Access to 99 Westgate Street is provided via doorway in the western wall directly into 99 Westgate Street via a C19 plank and batten door with strap hinges.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 5 June 2024 to correct a typo in source

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

472653

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cox, N, "Gloucester Folk Museum": A guide to the Buildings, (1998)
Cox, N, Gloucester Folk Museum and the Mechanisation of the Pin Industry in Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology Journal, (2005), 4-18

Websites
British History online - A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester, accessed 8 February 2024 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol4/pp101-112
Folch Pin Factory Archive, accessed 23 February 2024 from https://dailybritain.wordpress.com/tag/pin-making/

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.