Monument record MDO20148 - St Michael's Works, St Michael's Lane, Bridport

The St Michael’s net works were developed by William Edwards & Son in the late 19th and early 20th century. The works lay behind houses and gardens along the St Michael’s Lane frontage, with the main red brick buildings along the northern end of the site and warehouses and workshops along Foundry Lane, a large shed adjacent to the river and open yards in the centre. Most of the buildings still survive. Production of nets, in particular sports nets, continued at the St Michael’s Works until the mid-1960s.

The St Michael’s net works were developed by William Edwards & Son from their ropery at 66 St Michael’s Lane, on land purchased between 1895 and 1903. The works lay to the north of Foundry Lane and west of St Michael’s Lane, to the south of the former cattle sale yard. A plan of the works in 1929 shows the extent of the works, with houses and gardens along the St Michael’s Lane frontage, the main buildings along the northern end of the site and warehouses and workshops along Foundry Lane, a large shed adjacent to the river and open yards in the centre. The main red brick building along the north side of the site was built in the late 19th to early 20th century and the buildings along Foundry Lane are mid-19th to early 20th century in date. Most of the buildings still survive. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) Edwards specialised in sports netting, which was exported worldwide to every major tournament and club. During WWI, the factory made steel torpedo nets. Production of nets continued at the St Michael’s Works until the mid-1960s, its closure being part of the rationalisation and reorganisation following the formation of Bridport Industries Ltd in 1963. (1) (2) (4) Rope Walk. Two-storeyed three-bay late 19th century warehouse, in red brick. The site of attached open ropewalk to the west, now part obscured, with an intact later corrugated iron ropewalk along the north side. There is a raised transverse skylight to the east end of the ropewalk. The warehouse may have been part powered, there is a blocked shaftbox to the south end. At the north end of the building is an iron wall crane and first-floor taking-in door. Also the site of a parallel open ropewalk along the south side of the corrugated iron building. <1-4> Bridport has been an important centre for the production of rope, twine and netting, originally from flax and hemp, from at least the 13th century, and possibly earlier. By the 16th century the town was a nationally-important centre for the production of rope for the Navy. Between the late 16th century and mid-19th century tackle, cordage and nets were made for the Newfoundland fisheries; sailcloth, sacking and tarpaulin were also produced. The Napoleonic Wars stimulated the trade of finished ropes and nets, for example, and gave Bridport its great period of prosperity. From the mid-19th century onwards the town was synonymous with the manufacture of nets for fishing, agricultural, sporting and other purposes, exporting them throughout the world. The First World further stimulated the industry leading to the manufacture of products for the military. During the first half of the 20th century many of the town’s smaller cordage businesses amalgamated, creating larger companies, but with falling production in the late 20th century the industry declined and only a few manufacturers now remain in Bridport. Map and documentary evidence indicates that a number of open walks and ancillary buildings were present in the area to the west of St Michael’s Lane from the mid-19th century, but the area was extensively developed as an area for net, twine and rope production in the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century in response to the expansion of the Bridport’s cordage industry. In the mid-19th century St Michael’s Works in the southern part of the St Michael’s area [Foundry Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305807], immediately north of Foundry Lane, was described as a ‘Buckinghouse with the Plot or piece of land thereunto adjoining and belong lately used as a Bleaching Ground but now converted into a Garden.’ Records indicate that there was also a warehouse. In 1874 William Edwards re-located his twine-making business to St Michael’s Lane but turned to the manufacture of nets in circa 1884. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1887 depicts a rope works along the north side [St Michael’s Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305412] of the complex and a long, narrow range along what was to become the southern boundary to St Michael’s Works, parts of which have been incorporated into the early-20th century net works and into later buildings. William Edwards specialised in the manufacture of sports netting and acquired further land between circa 1895 and 1903. By the start of the 20th century the company had been given the exclusive rights to manufacture football nets which had been invented by J A Brodie in 1889. A significant increase in production meant that the site was substantially re-modelled and large two-and-a-half-storey range was constructed on the site of a former rope walks, and was described as a net works on a map of circa 1912. During the First World War William Edwards & Son switched to the manufacture of military products such as balloon and aeroplane cordage, hammocks and tent lines and, following a meeting with Winston Churchill, then Lord of the Admiralty, the company worked on the design and production of steel-wire nets to be used for disabling submarines. Profits made during the war allowed the business to expand; additional buildings (known as the Stover Works and the subject of a separate assessment [NRHE number 1305399]) were constructed on land purchased immediately to the north of St Michael’s Works. A plan of 1929 provides evidence the layout of this industrial complex and shows it has little changed since then except for the removal of several buildings in the rear yard. By the mid-20th century the company had reverted to the manufacture of fishing and sports nets and in 1947 merged with Hounsells to form Bridport Industries Ltd. St Michael’s Works went into gradual decline after further mergers and the creation of Bridport Gundry Ltd in 1963, and closed in the mid-1960s. The buildings were subsequently sold and the area was developed as a trading estate. MATERIALS: constructed mostly of red brick in a stretcher bond [St Michael’s Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305412], although parts of the southern range are of stone rubble; with brick and stucco dressings [Foundry Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305807]. The roofs are clad in double Roman tiles, and asbestos and formed metal sheeting; there are brick stacks to the former office building. PLAN: an accretional T-shaped plan comprising a two-storey principal or front range and early-20th century additions to the rear [St Michael’s Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305412]; to the south is a further linear range of 19th century and 20th century buildings which defines the south side of an open yard [Foundry Lane Rope Walk NRHE number 1305807]. EXTERIOR: the façade (north) of the front range is dominated by a four-stage central tower which breaks forwards slightly. It has loading doors to the ground, first and attic storeys. The fourth, upper stage has decorative bands of brick and stucco and each face has moulded brick jambs inside each of which is a roundel that originally carried a clock but the four clock faces have been boarded over. To either side of the tower there is a regular arrangement of fenestration comprising multi-pane windows with sills and flat-headed lintels of stucco to both the ground and first floors; interspersed by entrances that have late-20th century doors. There are also gabled dormer windows; three to either side of the tower, and some modern rooflights. The two far left (east) bays are under a gabled roof and appear to have contained offices. There is an off-centre entrance with a half-glazed door and windows to either side. At first floor there is a sash window with a raised surround of incised mouldings and a keystone, to the right of which is a timber canted bay window. In the apex of the gable is an occulus, also with a raised stucco surround and a keystone. The first-floor sill band to the front continues along the east return to a triangular-shaped oriel containing a sash window with raised and fielded panels beneath. The two bays to the far right are also gabled and the windows, two on each floor, match those to the rest of the façade. Attached to the west gabled end of the main range is a further building that is triangular on plan and has an external staircase to its north elevation. The buildings along the north side of the rear yard back onto the rear wall of the front range, although a number of blocked openings in the south elevation of the latter are visible within the building. Most of the buildings to the rear have openings with segmental heads; some retaining early-20th century windows including multi-pane casements and sash windows. The building at the left (west) end contains some masonry in its south elevation suggesting that it may include part of an earlier structure; there are also several blocked openings. Of the four buildings that make up the range along the south side of the yard, there is a three-bay warehouse towards the east end which dates probably from the mid-19th century and is built entirely of coursed stone rubble. There are modern casements to the south elevation; several of which have replaced doorways. The only opening in the north (yard) side is a wide entrance to the far right which has replaced an earlier, narrower opening; its lintel visible above the inserted opening that is built entirely of stone. The lower half of the south elevation of the other buildings in this group their lower parts to the south elevation are also stone rubble which may be the remains of an earlier range shown on the 1887 Ordnance Survey map or part of a boundary wall; the rest is brick. INTERIOR: the front range has been sub-divided in places to create smaller units, but some parts of the building continue to reflect the long, open spaces required for net making. Some early-20th century doors remain but many have been replaced with fire doors, and there is no evidence for the original power source. The upper floors are carried on steel columns and beams, and there is a king post roof with bracing struts and some steel trusses; the gabled end bays have A-frame trusses. The buildings that were formerly part of St Michael's Works (Bridport Industries) and date largely from the late-19th century to the first decade of the 20th century are not listed for the following principal reasons: Architecture: the architecture is typical of its type rather than special, and most of the buildings are of very plain construction. Although the principal range has visual appeal, it does not have that extra quality of design and materials that is expected in an early-20th century building; Intactness: although the principal range is little altered, changes to most individual buildings have had a detrimental effect on the intactness of the complex as a whole and it is no longer possible to understand from the physical fabric how it originally operated; Design: the majority of the complex is generic in appearance, lacking a regional distinctiveness which would mark them out as specifically net-making buildings. <8>

Record last edited

Dec 10 2023 3:02PM