Silver End, Essex
Posted in Architecture, Art Deco, Kirkcaldy, Trips at 13:00 on 19 November 2011
The day after Braintree we took in the nearby village of Silver End. This was the first time we’d been there as for all the years we lived in Essex we didn’t have a car.
We were looking for the housing estate designed by the architect Thomas S Tait who I see from the link submitted an unsuccessful plan for Kirkcaldy Town Hall. Among other accomplishments he was the architect of St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh which I have featured here and here.
We knew we were on the right track when we came upon this in Boar’s Tye Road:-
It’s needing a bit of TLC I would say.
The next junction takes you into Silver Street. Every building is one of Tait’s.
This was taken from the other end of the street after we had parked.
This is the junction of Silver Street and Broadway which also contains many Tait houses.
There must have been around two hundred flat roofed houses in the deco style over the two streets.
A few had some extra deco flourishes like the triangular columns with windows in this photo where you can also see the connecting walls between them which house the gates to the rear gardens.
Tags: Architecture, Art Deco, Essex, Kirkcaldy, Kirkcaldy Town House, Silver End, St Andrew's House, Thomas S Tait
David
19 November 2011 at 13:17
Jack, so good to see recent pictures of Silver End. I visited about 10 years ago and found it to be a wonderful little place both in terms of architecture and industrial culture & history.
jackdeighton
19 November 2011 at 22:17
Yea David,
We weren’t there long but I still took loads of pictures. Wolverton will feature soon!
(Btw; I’ve added a link to your blog on to my sidebar.)
Wolverton, Silver End – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton
21 November 2011 at 13:03
[…] factory managers to live in. I presume the other biggish Deco house in Boar’s Tye Road (see my last Art Deco post,) though not quite as elaborate as Wolverton, was also for a […]
Art Deco in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton
18 April 2012 at 10:02
[…] Art Deco houses on Evesham Road. Amazingly the original glazing seems to still be in place. (They look like Critall windows to me.) Compare and contrast with Silver End. […]
Moira Tait
24 February 2013 at 15:39
Thank you so much for these photos. I visited for the first time last year to finally see my grandfather’s designs after years of my father mentioning the Critall village.
jackdeighton
24 February 2013 at 17:26
Thank you for looking in Moira.
I’m delighted you liked the photos.
You have no idea how thrilled I am to have been contacted by Thomas Tait’s granddaughter.
Where is it you live now?
The Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938 – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton
3 May 2013 at 09:01
[…] Tower of Empire (seen in the above photograph taken from the link) designed by Thomas Tait whose houses at Silver End I featured eighteen months ago. The tower was erected on the hill in Bellahouston Park and […]