Site of former Boot & Shoe Factory (Midsomer Norton)

 interesting place, historical layer / disappeared object

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This was the site of Ollie Edwards' Boot Factory in the early 20th C. One of the employees, Fred Gould, went on to become the first socialist MPs elected (in the '20s) outside the conurbations in the south west(the former Frome Division).
During WW2, the premises were used for 'war work', and the manufacture of accumulators before Clarks - the Street-based shoe firm - took over the factory fairly soon after WW2.
This was their first venture into the then North Somerset, and though a rather old and unsophisticated building, it became the platform for Clarks expansion in the district over the following decade.
The Westfield factory was initially established in the 'tin church' & hall in 1953, while the new & modern St Peter's Factory was built nearby - eventually opening in the mid-fifties.
The factory at Northway, Norton, continued to be productive for many years even though Clarks were by then building new pupose-built factories throughout Somerset & Devon. None of these factories are now productive, the last to close being at Ilminster & Weston.
Boot & shoe-making had been a longstanding industry in Norton, born out of the need for both footwear generally but specifically pit boots, which meant that there were folk with leather-working skills. It also meant that the jobs created by Clarks occurred at a time when the pits were closing. These jobs also provided the basis for injecting monies into the local economy.
That said, there were those men in the '50s who could not resist referring to a job at Clarks as 'women's work' compared with the type of work which had previously prevailed !!!!