Building record MDR10267 - Marble and Spar Works, 2-10 St Helen's Street/71 King Street, Derby

Spar Manufactory Complex c.1817-1819, consists of works reached from a yard off King Street and the owner's house, 10 St Helen's Street, which adjoins the works. 2-8 St Helen's Street was added c.1862-1875. The west wing, 12 St Helen's Street (SMR 32154), was sold to William Haslam in 1834. Marble and spar works established 1802 on the probable site of St Helen's Abbey (SMR 18957). (1) Marble and Spar Works, 2, 8 and 10 St Helen's Street, 71 King Street. Extensive range of two storey brick buildings with stone dressings with workshop buildings in the rear yard; originally a spar manufactory built by Richard Brown in 1802. There have been many detailed changes to the site over the years involving a variety of trades. A range of small businesses now occupies the site. (2) In December 2003 Birmingham Archaeology undertook a desk-based and historic building assessment of land in the St Helen's area of Derby city centre, delimited by Lodge Lane, St Helen's Street, King Street and Willow Street. A summary of the archaeological and historical development of the site is based largely on the work of Steer. Building descriptions and photographs are provided for 71 King Street, Units 1, 3 and 5, 2-8 St Helen's Street and 10 St Helen's Street. (3) Old St Helen's House (SMR 32556) faced King Street before the existence of St Helen's Street. Following the creation of St Helen's Street, St Helen's House became the site of Browns Spar Ornament Manufactory, first documented in 1802. Although the Derby Mercury recorded the demolition of Old St Helen's House in 1800, map evidence shows that the Spar site used parts of Old St Helen's House as part of the works, until replaced completely in 1818. (4) In 2006 Trent & Peak Archaeological Unit was commissioned by Metropolitan Housing Trust, through Franklin Ellis Architects, to carry out an historic building survey on 10-14 St Helen's Street and adjacent land, in advance of redevelopment. The extensive research carried out on the site by local historian Jane Steer in recent years is drawn upon, and with the use of maps a summary of the history of the site is suggested. The site was acquired by Richard Brown and his son, manufacturers of spar products, in about 1802, and they established a new factory and installed a steam engine. The surviving early factory workshop at the north end of the site may have been a reused (and largely rebuilt) 18th century building, as its footprint matches that of a structure formerly extending from the back of 'Old' St Helen's House (SMR32556). The factory was expanded into an E-shaped complex facing St Helen's Street, certainly by about 1819, although there is evidence linking the west wing's construction to the earlier work after 1802. The east wing may also have reused part of the earlier house. The early 19th century date makes these buildings some of the earliest industrial buildings still left in Derby. In the 1830s the site was divided between William Haslam, a whitesmith, who acquired the west wing, and Joseph Hall who bought or leased the remaining buildings to carry on spar production. The Haslam's rebuilt most of the west wing and built two new buildings to the west, No. 14 (SMR 32155), and No. 16 St Helen's Street, which became a pub and has been demolished. Hall built a new house (10 St Helen's Street) and made changes to the spar works. Most of the present structures (including raised floors) had appeared by the end of the 19th century, leaving only a small open yard in the centre of the complex. (5, 6) King Street: former marble works. In 1801-02 Richard Brown moved his spar manufactory to the site where for 70 years he and his successors made fine objets d'art from Blue John, Ashford Black Marble, Chellaston alabaster and other local and foreign marbles. The works were several times rebuilt, and in the 1820s included a swimming pool for public use fed by the hot water from the process of turning the ornaments. The works moved in the late 1870s and the buildings were then converted for other purposes. The range facing north is the surviving portion of the original 1802 works, the only surviving purpose-built marble factory north of the Alps. (7) In April 2006 Birmingham Archaeology undertook a programme of archaeological building recording in advance of construction work related to the 'Connecting Derby' road scheme. The buildings recorded at Level 2/3 (as defined by English Heritage) were 2-8 St Helen's Street and Unit 1, 71 King Street. The buildings recorded at Level 1 (as defined by English Heritage) were 10, 12 and 14 St Helen's Street. 10 St Helen's Street is dated to the mid-19th century. 2-8 St Helen's Street was originally constructed by J R St H Hall between 1876 and 1869 as a new showroom for the Spar manufactory. The basement may possibly incorporate 18th century salvaged brick, or may have re-used existing fabric. Unit 1, 71 King Street, has been provisionally identified as the engine house for the manufactory, and has similar brickwork to that recorded in the basement of 2-8 St Helen Street. It is of potentially early date and may indicate that pre-existing fabric was incorporated into the new structure when it was built in the early 19th century. Alternatively the brick may have been salvaged from 'Old' St Helen's House, which was demolished c.1800, and the materials sold off immediately prior to the recorded construction of the engine house. (8)