The history of St James based shoemaking legends , Church's shoes

If you're from Northampton you’re bound to have heard about the town's history with shoes, nicknamed ‘shoe town’ and the football team being nicknamed the ‘cobblers’ and ‘shoe army’, Northampton is widely known for its shoe industry. 

The beginning of Church’s shoe story starts in 1617, when Anthony Church started a small production of handcrafted shoes in Northampton. Two centuries later, his great-grandson Thomas turned into a global icon.

On the first of May, 1873, Thomas set up a small factory on 30 Maple Street in Northampton, marking the official birth of Church’s shoes.

In 1880, Thomas and his family, wife Eliza and two sons Alfred and William, had to move their small factory on Maple Street to a bigger one on Duke Street.

William then introduced the revolutionary concept of left and right shoes, which were available in a variety of widths, materials and even half sizes. Another of their trademarked “adapted” boots won the gold medal at the 1881 Great Exhibition.

In 1892 Thomas retired, leaving his youngest son Thomas Dudley to lead a big change, which saw the Duke Street structure rebuilt into a six-storey modern factory. 

Whilst Thomas was doing this, William was sending representatives to South Africa, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire. 

In 1907, the first deliveries to the American and Canadian markets were made. 

In the 1920s, Church’s opened its first London Boutique and introduced its first womens shoe, and in 1929 the brand opened its first store overseas in New York City. 

In the Second World War, Church’s produced shoes for the armed forces.

Then, in 1957, the company opened a new factory in St James Road, where you can still find their headquarters today. 

New branches then continued to open all over the world, and Queen Elizabeth II awarded the company the Queen's award to industry for excelling in exports. 

In 1999, Church’s was acquired by the Prada Group, which then saw many boutiques opening in international world capitals.

In 2011, the first shop dedicated to women's collections opened in London on New Bond Street.