Marks of Time
Historic Buildings as  illustrations of the past.
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Industry

 The city expanded  during the century behind new quays from the bridge along the Strand Road to  where the Sainsbury’s Supermarket is now. Quays also developed in the  Waterside. Made of larch, these timber wharves and most of their associated  stone and brick warehouses have now gone but the Harbour Office of 1882 on  Harbour  Square gives  a strong idea of this prosperity. It is  a fine stone building in an  Italianate Style. Along with the Customs House  (1876) on one side and the  Guildhall of 1887 (rebuilt 1912) on the other, they present a formal civic  façade purposely designed to reflect the power and  prosperity of the  mercantile city. 

Industry became  associated with the shirt factories as the century progressed. This was  generated by the close link by sea to Glasgow  and the ready supply of labour. While initially a cottage industry with work  hired out in small amounts, increased mechanisation led to the construction  of a number of factories near the central area. The earliest to survive is  the Abercorn factory of 1863 at the end of Craigavon  Bridge.  It follows the simple Georgian pattern of regular sash windows with small  panes but has a  decorative  flourish at the  curved corner  above its clock.

Later factories such  as the former Welch Margetson factory   on  Carlisle  Road  reflect the changing architectural styles of the period. It is a good example  of Ruskinian Gothic. Many of these large buildings are remarkable for the  ease with which they accommodate themselves to their surroundings. The Star  Factory on Foyle Road  (1899) is, however, a conscious  landmark and presents a very considered stone  façade to the  river.

The great loss however, was that of the Tillie and  Henderson factory (1856) which was demolished after a series of fires in 2002.  This one building told the story of the industry better than any other in the  city. It was the first mechanised factory and had a severe Georgian façade to  the river. It expanded in the later nineteenth century and took on the form of a  French ‘hotel de Ville’ in the 1860s  to Carlisle Square at the end of a newly constructed metal bridge. This  architectural development reflected both changing architectural fashions and the  growing importance of the industry. But the building was also used as a case  study in Marx’s Das Kapital linking  it to the wider European story of the Industrial Revolution. Because it also had  a small school within its roof it also reflected the benign interest of some  industrialists in promoting education among the children of their workers. 


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