John Cave - High Street, Rushden, Northamptonshire, UK - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

The plaque reads:

'On
this the site
of John Cave's
Shoe Factory
the
great fire of
Rushden
began
19th July 1901

Erected by Rushden & District History Society 1991'

Rushden Research Group elaborates with this excellent piece quoted here:

'The shoe factory of John Cave was established in 1850 but fate decided that the following years would be calamitous. In April 1877 the fire brigade was called out at midnight to attend a fire at the factory. But by the time they arrived it was too late, and the factory was destroyed. The loss was estimated to be in the region of £3,000 pounds. A second tragedy was to occur a few days later when Mr Elias Cave was killed by a falling wall whilst inspecting the damage.

However temporary premises were found and production continued until a new factory was built on the original site and adjoining land. These proved to be amongst the largest shoe factories in Northamptonshire; 8,000 pairs of shoes per week were made in 1889 and the workforce was 600+.

On the 19th. July 1901 disaster struck again. During the dinner hour another fire broke out, and once more the premises were razed to the ground. It was regarded as a tragedy for the town but, with courage undaunted, the Caves built another factory in College Street and production resumed by 1902.

The next misfortune to affect the factory, now in College Street, was in October 1940 when two bombs fell on the premises killing four employees and injuring about forty others. (this was the same stick of bombs that did so much damage to Alfred St. School).

A curious fact is that no other shoe factory in Northamptonshire was bombed during the war!

Eventually the premises were taken over by the Eaton shoe manufacturers. They continued production until, like so many other shoe businesses, it closed down and the factory was demolished in 1980.

The site is presently the premises of “Wilkinson's” general store.'

Blue Plaque managing agency: Rushden & District History Society Individual Recognized: John Cave's Shoe Factory Physical Address: 67 High Street Rushden, Northamptonshire United Kingdom Web Address: [Web Link]

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