Former Cinderella Shoe Works (J.F. Willis), Watery Lane, Worcester
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Former Cinderella Shoe Works (J.F. Willis), Watery Lane, Worcester by P L Chadwick as part of the Geograph project.
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Image: © P L Chadwick Taken: 4 Aug 2013
Worcester at one time had a thriving boot and shoe manufacturing industry. One of the largest firms in Victorian times was run by Henry Willis, who was joined by his brother John in 1860. The name Cinderella was an early example of a brand name. In 1914, by which time Henry had died, his brother moved production from their factory in College Street to this new factory in Watery Lane. It was designed by Brown and Mayor of Northampton, another centre of the shoe industry, so they probably had previous experience in this field. Unfortunately the business declined and went through some changes of ownership. In its last years it was owned by and manufacturing footwear for Great Universal Stores, the mail order catalogue firm. This ceased in around 1976. Subsequently the premises were used by Kays & Morses, both part of GUS in connection with the mail order business. By 2005 the premises were no longer used. It was acquired by Barratts, the housing developers, and they retained the front part and converted it into apartments known as Cinderella Court. The extensive rear of the former factory was demolished and houses built on the site, the main access to which is from Bransford Road. When this photograph was taken in August 2013, there were apartments still available. Image