Group    From 1861  To 1979

Bryant and May - Fairfield Works

Categories: Industry

Halfway along Fairfield Road stands the old Bryant and May Factory. A Grade II listed building designed by Holman and Goodrham. The brick entrance includes a depiction of Noah’s Ark and the word "Security" used as a trademark on the matchboxes. It used to be the largest match factory in the UK and at full production in 1911, the site employed more than 2,000 women and girls.  It was the site of the Matchgirls Strike.  See also Gladstone's statue at Bow Church.

The factory closed in 1979 when the business transferred to Liverpool and the building is now a gated private apartment complex known as the Bow Quarter.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Bryant and May - Fairfield Works

Commemorated ati

Bryant & May Testimonial fountain - lost

This elaborate fountain was commissioned by Bryant and May to celebrate the a...

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Bryant & May Testimonial fountain - plaque

This plaque is a rarity: a memorial to a memorial! The site of the fountain ...

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Fairfield Works

This plaque was lost sometime July 2021 - August 2022.

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Other Subjects

C. Harman Wigan

C. Harman Wigan

Director of Vinot Cars Ltd. Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man: Cecil Harman Wigan was born on 7 June 1874 in Mortlake, Surrey, a son of James Wigan and Maria Branley He...

Person, Industry, Transport

1 memorial
Elkington & Co.

Elkington & Co.

Founded by the brothers George and Henry Elkington in Birmingham. In 1840 they were the first to patent a method that used an electric current to coat an item in a  thin layer of metal (normally si...

Group, Industry

1 memorial
Sir William Siemens

Sir William Siemens

Born Germany. Electrical engineer, inventor and businessman. Came to England in 1843 with an electro-plating invention. Became naturalised British subject in 1859. Also worked with the regenerativ...

Person, Industry, Science

1 memorial
J. Arthur Rank

J. Arthur Rank

Flour miller and film-maker. Born Joseph Arthur Rank at Chestnut Villas, Holderness Road, Drypool, Kingston upon Hull. He worked for many years in his (very wealthy) father's flour milling business...

Person, Cinema, Industry

1 memorial
Alfred Beit

Alfred Beit

Co-founder and funder (with Sir Julius Wernher) of the Royal School of Mines building. Born Hamburg, learnt the diamond trade in Amsterdam and went to Kimberley where he met Wernher and Cecil Rhod...

Person, Industry, Philanthropy, Race Issues, Africa, Germany, South Africa

1 memorial