The former engine house is orientated north-east to south-west but for ease of
reference within this report it is described as having its long axis orientated west to east.
4.2.2 The engine house was constructed to power the lace machinery housed within a former
prison building dating to 1867 that was converted to a factory after the site became a centre
for lace manufacture in 1885. Originally abutting the north gable wall of the factory, the engine
house was built between the publication of the 1900 and 1919 Ordnance Survey maps. Until
recently it was used as a body repair shop for the spray painting of vehicles.
4.2.3 The building is rectangular in plan with a slate roof and slate ridge tiles. It is brick built,
the bricks laid in English bond. The building comprises three trusses forming four bays. A
ceiling has been inserted obscuring the roof detail with the exception of the tie beams. All
original internal fixtures and fittings have been removed.
4.2.4 The east gable is constructed of superior quality bricks measuring 9 inches x 4¼ inches
x 3 inches with a stone coping and kneelers with ornate moulded bricks beneath. There is a
large blocked central round headed window with stone cill and a circular brick opening above
for a cast iron vent. Straight joints in the brickwork the southern part of the gable indicate
repair to this part of the building probably due to the demolition of the lace factory in the
1970s. Additional structural support is provided by a long cast iron tie.
4.2.5 Superior bricks have also been used in the north elevation. It has a symmetrically
placed round headed doorway flanked by two round headed windows to either side all four of
which have stone sills. The openings are all bricked in though fragments of the original
window frames and glazing survive. The moulded brick cornice present in the west elevation
continues beneath the eaves.
4.2.6 A modern opening has been inserted into the west gable to allow access for vehicles
thus removing any original architectural features. The gable is constructed of inferior quality
bricks measuring 9 inches x 4½ inches x 3 inches and lacks the decorative features present
on the north gable.
4.2.7 The south elevation has three round headed windows, two of which were blocked and
subsequently truncated by a square headed door which may have provided direct access into
the factory and the third blocked presumably when the pier was added to provide additional
structural support to the south-east part of the building. Two small openings are present
beneath the eaves which appear to be original feature though their purpose is unknown. The
western half of the elevation was an exterior wall and not connected to the factory. It was
constructed of inferior bricks, like the eastern half, but it did have a simple brick cornice. A
later air vent and steel girders are present, the vent probably associated with its use as a
spray painting shop.
4.2.8 At Southwell the lace machines in the converted prison block of 1867 were originally
powered by steam from three furnaces which also heated the factory at a constant 70
degrees to maintain the tension of the cotton thread (Raithby and Smith 2014, 2). The
dimensions of the engine house indicate that it housed a type of horizontal compound engine.
This type of engine was developed during the 1860s when shaft-drive was dispensed with in
factories to be replaced by ropes driven from the flywheel of the steam engine that ran to
each floor of the mill thus driving the line-shafts of each floor. Ropes were mechanically
efficient, cheap to install and maintain. Furthermore, if breakage occurred the whole mill did
not have to shut down as it did when a fault occurred in a shaft-driven system (Cossons 1993,
197). The engine house is typical of the period when between 1900–1920 there was a trend
towards ornate decoration being applied to lace factory buildings (Palmer Nevell and Sissons
210, 2012). (1)

<1> Trent & Peak Archaeology, 2016, The Rainbow Depot, The Burgage, Southwell, Nottinghamshire: Historic Building Record (Unpublished document). SNT5202.