Built in 1928, Silver End was an industrial-rural project commissioned by window manufacturer and ‘idealist and dreamer’ Francis Crittall. Not only did Crittall build a factory there, but he also commissioned houses for its workers; the majority semi-detached terraces, with some grander properties for management designed by Thomas Tait and Frederick MacManus. The workers – some of whom were disabled First World War veterans – were well looked after, living in houses with electricity, running water and large gardens. There was a strong civic element: a huge village hall (England’s largest) designed by C Murray Hennell, a hotel, a bus station, a picture house and even a three-storey department store.