Lace Market 19th Century

Lace Market 19th Century. . The first half of the 19th century saw the decline and destruction of the great mansions in the Lace Market, and the development of the hosiery, cotton and lace trades. It was the lace trade which was to transform the area., Machines adapting the stocking frame for the making of lace were tried from about 1768, but the development of the lace industry in Nottingham really began in 1809 with John Heathcoat's invention of the 'bobbin net' machine. This could make 1,000 meshes a minute, compared with the hand lace makers' five. The evolution of lace machinery was rapid. By 1836, 30,000 meshes a minute were possible. Until the middle of the century hand machinery predominated and most lace was made in small workshops on the upper floors of houses. From the 1840's onwards however steam powered machines were rapidly introduced and by the 1860's production was concentrated in large factories. There were 224 factories in Nottingham in 1870 and over 500 in 1890 when nearly 17,000 were employed in the lace trade., The Lace Market was largely rebuilt with massive and ornate warehouses in only 2 decades from 1845 to 1865 , the years in which lace production was transformed from a domestic scale to a large scale factory industry. The Lace Market was not the centre of the lace manufacture but of the skilled finishing work and it was the commercial heart of the industry, even though by the end of the 19th century much of the actual lace production had been transferred from Nottingham to Long Eaton, where wage rates were lower., The changing role of the area can be seen at Sherwin House which stood at the corner of St. Mary's Gate and Pilcher Gate. By 1827 warehouses had been built on the gardens and in the 1840's the house was being used as a warehouse. It was demolished in the 1880's and replaced with lace warehouses. The Ordnance Survey plan of 1882 shows virtually the entire area given over to commerce, mainly lace warehouses. The term 'Lace Market' was first used in the early 19th century, and the astonishingly rapid rebuilding of the area created the character of the area today. Nottingham's growth in the second half of the 19th century was phenomenal and this 'New Nottingham' was a source of great civic pride. The Nottingham Review commented in 1857:, "Nottingham is become the Manchester of the Midlands . . . with regard to its warehouses it cannot fail to astonish any visitor!", In the early 20th century the lace industry went into a steep decline, partly because of changing fashions and partly because of foreign competition and tariffs raised against English lace., Some of the warehouses between St. Mary's Gate and Halifax Place were badly damaged by bombing in May 1941 and had to be demolished. The rest of the site was cleared in 1960's., After many years of neglect the Lace Market is now taking on a new lease of life. The building of new flats on the site in 1980-82 is only the latest event in the areas long history.