Desborough, Northants.

The town of Desborough is situated approximately 6 miles north-west of Kettering and approximately 18 miles north of Northampton.  

Desborough has been occupied since pre-historic times, remaining a small rural settlement until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when a succession of industrial activity took place which culminated in the development of the boot and shoe industry. 

The last two decades of the nineteenth century saw a dramatic rise in population numbers as boot and shoe manufacturers opened their powered factories in the town.  The Victorian and Edwardian expansion of Desborough sits alongside the older historic core of the town, built circa 1700.

Desbourgh has surviving examples of Georgian Townhouses, Victorian terraces and Edwardian Semi-detached homes.

Conservation area

A conservation area has been established to the north of the town, within the town centre.  The bulk of the conservation area is made up of workers’ housing.  These houses are characterised by their grouping in terraced rows along New Street, Mansefield Close and Burghley Close and along the southern side of Gladstone Street.  The houses are tightly spaced creating a high density, late Victorian domestic townscape.

“The scale and particular history of the boot and shoe industry has created townscapes that are unique in England. And, because many of the historic buildings relating to the industry are robust and versatile, they can be put to new uses and given a fresh lease of life. …much of the character of these towns derives from a complex mix of factories, houses and workshops and the spaces between them. This calls for an imaginative strategic approach to whole areas if the distinctiveness is to be understood and sensitively managed.”  ^{English Heritage}