General view of the former North British Rubber Company, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the south-west

Description General view of the former North British Rubber Company, Gilmore Park, Edinburgh, from the south-west

Date 27/8/2014

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number DP 202949

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content One of the major industrial players in Fountainbridge appeared on the scene in 1856, when the site of the disused Castle Silk Mills on the north bank of the Union Canal was acquired by Henry Lee Norris (1813-81), an American entrepreneur from New Jersey, and his friend Spencer Thomas Parmelee (1805-75) from New Haven, Connecticut. They had come to Scotland looking to set up a factory to produce India-rubber overshoes and boots, using a process patented by Charles Goodyear (1800-60). They set up a limited company in 1857 under the name North British Rubber Company, a name which was to become synonymous with the Fountainbridge area. The works expanded greatly during its history, eventually covering almost the entire south side of Fountainbridge to the canal. The works played a prominent part in both World Wars, after becoming the main manufacturer of wellingtons and trench boots for the army in WWI. Although the factory diversified its range of products, during WWII it again made a significant contribution to the war effort, when a total of 9,000 workers were employed at the factory, which was operating 24 hours a day. This shows the former office block for the rubber works, which was built on the corner of Fountainbridge and Gilmore Park between 1887 and 1894. This curved L-plan, two-storeyed-plus-basement building is faced in polychrome bricks which have been painted greyish-brown. There are corniced red brick chimney stacks resting on the curved corner and the south end of Gilmore Park sections. The main entrance to the offices was via a grand entrance doorway on Gilmore Park, comprising elaborating carved projecting cornice and pilasters, surmounted by a pediment carved with 'The North British Rubber Company'. When the North British Rubber Works (then named UniRoyal) moved their premises out to Newbridge in 1966-8, the adjacent Fountain Brewery expanded into the buildings vacated by the rubber works and other industrial premises nearby. Towards the end of the 20th century, the brewery complex dominated the Fountainbridge area. Subsequent takeovers, increased mechanisation and changes in production processes meant the brewery closed in 2004. The site was almost completely cleared c.2006, with only these offices of the Rubber Works remaining, standing in glorious isolation, along with one tenement block (185-209 Fountainbridge), surrounded by a vast brownfield site of approximately 16 acres.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1459002

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap