Thornton Homan and Company – Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 47.640 W 001° 44.813
30U E 582543 N 5961330
This blue plaque celebrates the success of Thornton Homan and Company in Bradford.
Waymark Code: WMJ1Y9
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/10/2013
Views: 1
During the industrial revolution Bradford became a major textile manufacturer and was known as the 'Wool capital of the world'.
The site of this blue plaque is on the edge of the area known as Little Germany. It got its name because a large number of German merchants spent large sums of money constructing imposing warehouses for the storage and sale of their goods.
The building is known as De Vere House and the blue plaque tells us that
This building of 1871 was built for
Thornton Homan and
Company.
A firm trading with America
And China on a large scale in
Dress fabrics.
Bradford City Heritage
This engineering
web site has the following details about the building.
“A grand, Italianate textile warehouse built in Bradford at the peak of the development of the textile trade there. De Vere House stands on Burnett Street in the heart of Little Germany, an area of Bradford which developed rapidly from 1856-75 to meet the needs of the trade in worsted, mohair and silk.
De Vere House was designed by the architects of Saltaire Mill and, in keeping with the area, its ornate style and Corinthian columns refer to the world of the Florentine wool merchants of the Renaissance.
Goods would arrive into an internal yard before being dispatched to a dye-house; packing machinery was situated at ground-level and finished fabric usually inspected in a well-glazed attic room.
The grand doorway leads to an ornate entrance hall and staircase, for the purpose of impressing customers.
Architects: Lockwood & Mawson“
No trading takes place in the building any more but the Bradford Chamber of Commerce have chosen this fine building as a base for promoting Bradford.