Building record MDR4621 - Former Lace Factory, Osmaston Road, Derby

SK 362348? Osmaston Road lace factory or Fletcher's Mill is a late 19th century three storey brick building with a T-plan form and a 22 bay frontage with typical central pediment. It has exceptionally tall slightly arched cast iron windows. (1) This Levers lace factory was erected in 1881 by William and Thomas Fletcher, the eldest and second son of John Fletcher of Heanor. It was so successful that in 1887 the brothers opened a second factory in Moscow, Russia. In 1897 the two brothers split, with Thomas retaining the name of the company and the factories. By 1901 the Derby factory contained between 60 and 70 Levers machines and employed about 500 people. Thomas was joined in the business by his three sons. However with the Russian Revolution, the firm lost the Russian plant, a financial disaster from which they never recovered. W & T Fletcher was taken over by John Jardine Ltd during the slump of the 1920s and in 1928 the lace machines were moved into the Jardine-owned Victoria Mill, Draycott, and the Osmaston Road lace factory was sold. (2) Large three storey brick factory with slate roof and large cast-iron windows with a central pedimented section of four bays flanked unevenly by nine bays on the south side and eight bays on the north. At the rear is a projecting wing of ten bays. This Leavers lace works was built by William and Thomas Fletcher of Heanor in 1881 but was closed and sold by 1928 when the machines were moved to Victoria Mill, Draycott. Currently in multiple occupancy. (3)