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YET another era in the town's history is ending as
the last of the town's six clothing factories is to be demolished and the site
used for a small housing development. And it is reported in the local press that
the last 50 workers - apart from a dozen who stayed on for a further fortnight
to complete orders already in hand - were told to leave the building with only
two hours' notice.
True, the situation was not quite as bad as that makes it sound - but it was bad
enough. There have been rumours - or was it stronger than that - for a few years
that the factory that had helped to put Nantwich on the map as a clothing town
was to cease to trade.
This is - or (soon to be) was - the Nantwich site of a firm called Lewing Ltd.
But the many Nantwich people who were employed there during the 1950s and '60s
knew it (as did all the locals, of course) as Dewhurst's.
Apparently there are to be 41 new homes on the site, comprising - according to
the Nantwich Guardian - blocks of:
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four one-bedroom apartments
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four two-bedroom flats
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24 three-bedroom townhouses, and
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nine
four-bedroom townhouses.
As might be expected, local residents organised a
petition against the development. The site backs on to The Broadway, one of the
areas of the town which were green fields in living memory - or at least not
much further back in time.
lOther
clothing factories that have ceased to be are: Baronia (Harding's), Doody's, Heap's,
and Haighton's (two factories).
THE following details appear on information boards
in Nantwich Museum:
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In 1850, George Harlock and Co owned a clothing
factory employing 150 to 200 workers making moleskin and corduroy trousers,
using some power-assisted machinery.
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In 1872, John Harding of Manchester built a
clothing factory on the Barony on the outskirts of town, which became known
as Baronia Works. (See also this Letter from
Nantwich). This was extended in 1880 and made good quality clothes - coats,
suits and sportswear - for the middle classes.
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By 1890, six clothing factories were operating
in Nantwich:
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George K. Cooke in Pall Mall;
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Charles Doody and Son in Beam Street, later
moving to Pratchett's Row;
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James Heap and Co, in Mill Street, moving to
the centre of an estate of 65 houses for workers, built on the Barony
next to Baronia and later to Crewe road;
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Joseph Haighton and Sons, Hospital Street;
and
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James Barlow in Welsh Row.
By 1928, Dewhurst's had several
clothing factories in Nantwich.
Enough is enough! (Letter from Nantwich) |
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