‘A real eye-opener’ - Family revisits former home forever etched in Northampton’s history that is now award-winning optometrist

One of Northampton’s best-known families has returned to their former childhood home for a trip down Memory Lane, shedding light on the history of one of the town’s most notable buildings.

Chichele House, opposite the Racecourse, has been home to some of the most notable names in British shoemaking and is currently the base for the award-winning Tompkins Knight & Son Optometrists. But from 1956 to 1974 it was home to dental surgeon David Wilson and his family.

His children Ian and Sally, along with Ian’s wife Priska, visited the state-of-the-art practice for a look around and shared memories and photos of their upbringing when it was a family home.

Brian Tompkins, director at TK&S Optometrists, said: “History is an important part of who we are at TK&S. We have always taken a keen interest in the origins of the company, which dates back to 1868, and this beautiful building and have tried to keep as many original features as possible to honour its past.

“It was brilliant to speak to Ian and Sally to find out more about its past. There is a door in the cellar that details all of the building’s previous owners and it includes names forever linked to the town’s boot and shoe past. It turns out that Ian himself wrote that list when he was growing up so he was delighted to see it still there.

“Ian also shared some amazing photos that we’d never seen before, including images of our car park when it was a lovely tree-lined garden. It was a privilege to talk to him about the history of Chichele House.”

It is the latest chapter in the history of the business and property, following last year’s discovery of a beautiful hand-painted sign that used to adorn the now demolished Knight & Son building in Mercer’s Row around the turn of the 20th century.

It had originally been rescued from an abandoned fisherman’s hut and then kept in a garden in Duston for 40 years before being donated to Tompkins Knight & Son and now takes pride of place at the Kingsley Road practice.

Chichele House is the former home of some of the leading boot and shoe manufacturers in Northampton, including the Hawkins and Webb families.