Silver End is a small village in Essex between Braintree and Witham.

By John Marriage

Many believe that Essex has taken more than its fair share of New Towns and other forms of residential expansion in post-war years. Nevertheless, Basildon and Harlow stand out as successful new towns created as a result of town planning proposals developed by Professor Abercrombie in 1944 for the government of the day in his Greater London Plan. His satellite town ideas were based on those of earlier planners who built the well-known Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.

However, a more modest experiment and much less well known took place in the 1920's when a planned community in the form of a garden village was created at Silver End near Witham.

It was built by Crittalls, then a rapidly expanding Braintree engineering firm, whose main product was the manufacture of standardised metal windows - a completely new innovation which was revolutionising the building industry, then, as now, booming. As a result of their expansion Crittalls continually required additional workers. However, the local council began to have difficulty in providing them with homes and the firm decided to build their own.

The Managing Director, Francis Henry Crittall, a keen socialist, after rejecting initial ideas to build a substantial housing estate in or around Braintree, decided that it would be preferable to build a completely new village on a virgin site, where each householder could have a garden and where a full range of communal services could be provided. In this he followed many of the ideas of Ebenezer Howard, the founder of the Garden City Movement and an early member of the present Royal Town Planning Institute. He as also influenced by the development of Bournville by George Cadbury and Saltaire by Sir Titus Salt.

In November 1925, he acquired Boars Tye Farm at Silver End, then in a remote rural area and big enough to provide homes for some 7,500 people. His houses were built to the remarkably low density of six houses to the acre - unheard of today - and each had a substantial garden area which the tenants could enjoy and, if they wished, grow their own vegetables. Every house had hot and cold running water, the former a luxury in those days.

The village was designed to be completely self-sufficient, with its own water supply and drainage, together with churches, hotel, cinema, a departmental shop and bus services, as well as generous recreational open space. The layout provided tree-lined avenues radiating from the centre with gardens at street junctions. In addition, a mixed farm of 264 acres was purchased to produce fresh food, including meat and vegetables and sold through the departmental store directly to the villagers. Also included within the development was a "fittings" factory, especially constructed to provide jobs for disabled men. This was, for the times, a far-sighted idea, but very welcome in view of the large number of disabled ex-servicemen from the Great War seeking employment.

Crittall's set up a special subsidiary, the Silver End Development Company, to build the village and among the directors was Captain Reiss who was also on the board of the much larger and better known Welwyn Garden City. He appointed Murrey Hennell, a well-known architect, to prepare the layout of the village, who also designed many of the houses and other buildings. Others were designed by C. H. B. Quennell and Thomas Tait of Sir John Burnet and Partners, who were awarded the best "house of the year" design in the 1928 Ideal Home Exhibition for two manager's houses built in the village.

The general appearance of the village is considered to be one of the earliest instances in Essex of the style known as "Modern", many buildings have flat roofs and the distinctive Crittall metal windows - the latter made at Braintree. Concurrently with the construction of the first houses, the factory began to function. Its power plant also provided unlimited electricity for the residents. Schools, shops and churches followed and in 1927 the newly-built school had a full roll of 135 pupils. In 1927, Francis Crittall and his wife moved into the village at "The Manors". It remained his home until his death in 1934.

When the Crittall Company was taken over by Slater, Walker Securities in 1968, the houses were acquired by Witham Urban District Council and now many are privately owned. Subsequently the village has been designated a Conservation Area, with restrictions in place to maintain the special character of the village. Sadly, though in post-war years further residential development took place around the original community, to a more standard suburban style, destroying some of its architectural integrity. Nevertheless, it remains as remarkable and foresighted early 20th century social experiment.

Local facilities

Silver End has a small number of shops for the local residents but the nearest large supermarket is a Morrisons in Witham. Today, Silver End has a library, doctors surgery, chemist, Chinese takeaway, fish & chip shop, betting shop and small Co-op supermarket. There are 3 churches and 2 playing fields and one pub called the Western Arms. There is one primary school and secondary schools are situated in and around Braintree and Witham. The John Bramston School, Rickstones and Alec Hunter are the closest and most popular schools nearest to Silver End.

Transport links

Silver End is on a direct link by road to Braintree and Witham which are within a 10 minute drive. There is a bus service to called 72 which runs from Braintree - Chelmsford Via Freeport, Silver End, Witham, Boreham Village There is also a service called the 72A Braintree - Chelmsford Via Cressing Road, Silver End, Witham, Boreham Village and Witham. The nearest and most accessible train station is Witham railway station, situated on the London Liverpool Street to Norwich main line via Hatfield Peveral, Chelmsford, Romford and Stratford.