Joseph Cheaney and Sons
JOSEPH CHEANEY AND SONS, RUSHDEN ROAD/REGENT STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1391022
- Date first listed:
- 23-Apr-2004
- List Entry Name:
- Joseph Cheaney and Sons
- Statutory Address:
- JOSEPH CHEANEY AND SONS, RUSHDEN ROAD/REGENT STREET
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1391022
- Date first listed:
- 23-Apr-2004
- List Entry Name:
- Joseph Cheaney and Sons
- Statutory Address 1:
- JOSEPH CHEANEY AND SONS, RUSHDEN ROAD/REGENT STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- JOSEPH CHEANEY AND SONS, RUSHDEN ROAD/REGENT STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Northamptonshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Desborough
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 80729 83510
Details
DESBOROUGH
1752/0/10001 RUSHDEN ROAD/REGENT STREET
23-APR-04 Joseph Cheaney and Sons
II
Boot and shoe factory. 1896 and 1930's. For Joseph Cheaney. Red brick with concrete tile roof (1896 range)and brown brick with parapeted flat roof (1930's range). 2 storeys. Earlier range faces Regent Street. 8-window range at first floor of cast-iron framed windows under round-arched heads. Similar on ground floor with entrance to centre right and altered window to left, probably steel-framed under flat lintel, which is similar to the 2-storey 1930's range to left. This is a 5-window range and returns to link with the probably 1970's extension. The front to Rushton Road is also of the 1930's and is in similar style with a 5-window range to left of the centre goods entrance and a 3-window range to right for the offices. This has an entrance in the centre. The austere front has panels of brickwork with raised lines emphasising the horizontal lines of the block. This is followed by the lines of the 1970's extension to right.
INTERIOR. This factory retains particularly well the characteristic interior of a boot and shoe factory with the making room on the ground floor, the pit for soaking shaped leather pieces, the humidifier room, the 1st floor clicking room, conveyor belt system in the finishing room, last racks, hoist mechanism and leather storage loft.
HISTORY. The world famous firm of Joseph Cheaney and Sons Ltd. was founded in 1886, was in Desborough by 1893 and established on the current site in 1896. By 1924 the factory had been extended to Rushton Road behind the original range with probably a north-light shed. There was a major extension in the 1930's and another smaller one probably in the 1970's. In 1967 the firm amalgamated with the equally famous Church's of Northampton and it continues to make high-quality men's shoes.
SOURCES.
EH Northamptonshore Boot and Shoe Survey, Site Report No.91.
Morrison, Kathryn A., with Bond, Ann, 'Built to Last? The Boot and Shoe Buildings of Northamptonshire', forthcoming, p.23.
This boot and shoe company has continued to manufacture footwear on the same site for over a century. The factory is a very good example of a characteristic of the industry, i.e., of a factory which extended to meet expansion in order to remain close to the workforce base rather than move to a new site. It retains the evolved characteristic interior. It is only rivalled by Crockett and Jones (q.v.) and Grensons (q.v.) in having continued to make footwear on the same site for over a century.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 492711
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Morrison, K, Bond, A, Built to Last: The Buildings of the Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry, (2004), 23
Other
Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe Industry Report,
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 05:55:25.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry