Until the 1920s, Silver End was a small
hamlet in the parish of
Rivenhall, comprising a handful of houses along Western Lane and the Western Arms public house. Crittall, or "The Guv'nor" as he was known to his workforce, had a vision to provide his workforce with houses and amenities in close proximity to his window factory. Thus over six years from 1926 Silver End village was built. In 1928, a large department store was opened with 26 various departments under one roof. The building burnt down in 1951, but was re-built and now houses the
Co-op and adjacent shops. The village hall boasted a first class dance floor, cinema, library, snooker room and health clinic. It is the largest village hall in the UK. The village includes some noteworthy early examples of
Modernist architectural design; the distinctive white, flat-roofed houses on Francis Way and Silver Street are the work of Sir John Burnet and Partners. One of those involved in the designs for the village was Scottish architect
Thomas S. Tait, a leading designer of
Art Deco and
Streamline Moderne buildings in the 20th Century who is also credited with designing the concrete pylons on
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Although Thomas S. Tait designed Le Chateau, most of the other houses on Silver Street and Craig Angus and Wolverton were designed by Tait's Irish Assistant, Frederick Edward Bradshaw MacManus. Of note are the steel window frames manufactured by Crittall's firm as a test for their use in the damp English climate. All major production ceased at the original Crittall site in 2006 when the factory was closed down. However, window frames are still manufactured at a Crittall factory in Witham. ==The factory today==