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...

Read More

Bryant & May Testimonial fountain - plaque

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

Read More

Fairfield Works

This plaque was lost sometime July 2021 - August 2022.

Read More

Other Subjects

Jahncke Ltd

Jahncke Ltd

From National Archives: "Tin box manufactures of Canonbury Works, Dorset Street, Islington {later renamed Dove Street}. Founded in 1873 by Ernest Jahncke and incorporated in 1893. Bryant and May ac...

Group, Commerce, Industry

1 memorial
New River Company

New River Company

See the New River for an explanation of why the New River Company came into being.  Puzzled why the Company should have been so involved in rebuilding after war damage we found the explanation at A...

Group, Industry

6 memorials
Bennet Woodcroft

Bennet Woodcroft

Inventor, industrial archaeologist, leading figure in patent reform and the first clerk to the commissioners of patents. Born Lancashire. Appointed professor of machinery at University College Lond...

Person, History, Industry, Museums / Libraries

1 memorial
Edwin Thomas Knott

Edwin Thomas Knott

Edwin Thomas Knott was born on 3 December 1894 in Greenwich, London, the eldest of the twelve children of Edwin Thomas Knott (1873-1938) and Elizabeth Mary Knott née Barlow (1875-1941). His birth w...

Person, Armed Forces, Industry

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Grunwick workers strike

Grunwick workers strike

Grunwick was a photographic film processing firm. 90% of its employees were either of Asian or Afro-Caribbean origin and working conditions were oppressive. Following the sacking of an employee for...

Event, Industry, Politics & Administration, Race Issues

1 memorial