ESSEX Architecture Weekend Guide

The Official Guide
ESSEX
Architecture
Weekend
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‘The
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A weekend of tours, talks and events
celebrating the county’s pioneering
role in twentieth century architecture.
All events are free unless stated,
to book go to radicalessex.uk
Silver End
Clockhouse Way Estate
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I hope you enjoy the weekend.
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For the first time, visitors and residents have the opportunity
to experience and learn about this undiscovered history.
Centred around three Modernist estates, Silver End village,
Bata at East Tilbury and the seaside modernism of Frintonon-Sea, ESSEX Architecture Weekend seeks to place the
county within the history of twentieth century architecture.
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Often overlooked, the county boasts some of the earliest
proponents of the Modernist style in Britain, with buildings
designed by Ove Arup, Wells Coates, Richard Rogers and
Thomas S. Tait, amongst others. This unique architectural
heritage is exemplified by buildings like the Royal Corinthian
Yacht Club at Burnham-on-Crouch, Britain’s only contribution
to MoMA’s International Exhibition of Modern Architecture
in 1932, and the early ‘Concrete Cottages’ at Cressing Road
in Braintree, designed in 1917.
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Essex has not traditionally been defined by large historic estates,
leaving areas of the county with open unspoiled land. This,
coupled with its proximity to the poorest parts of London, is key
to understanding its development. The permeable relationship
with the capital promoted innovation and experimentation with
diverse political ideologies and social makeups. Architectural
pioneers regarded the region as a testing-ground for radical
thought and alternative lifestyles.
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Focal Point Gallery is delighted to be partnering with Firstsite
and Visit Essex to present ESSEX Architecture Weekend.
Celebrating the county’s pioneering role in twentieth century
architecture, the weekend will consist of tours, talks, events
and bus travel, allowing unprecedented access to over twenty
key architectural sites.
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Silver End Village was built in 1926,
conceived by Francis Crittall to house
his factory workers at Crittall Windows.
The village was designed by Thomas S. Tait,
Frederick MacManus and C. Murray Hennell,
amongst others, stemming from the design
of Britain’s first Modernist building in nearby
Clockhouse Way.
Silver End Village Hall is the hub of ESSEX
Architecture Weekend, with an exhibition
from the Silver End Heritage Society, new
commissions from Curl la Tourelle Head
and Arnaud Desjardin, HAT Projects, and
Alan Kane who will host an evening disco,
with Depeche Mode tribute band Speak
and Spell, and DJing from Bob Stanley.
There will also be a talks programme in
the main hall, further details in the following
pages. Red Fox Brewery, Nazarí and
The Rolling Bean will provide refreshments
throughout the weekend, whilst Radical
Essex shuttle buses will drop off and pick
up at the Village Hall.
The Silver End Heritage Society will lead
tours of the village at 11am and 3pm,
pre-booked at www.radicalessex.uk. You
can check if space is available at Silver
End Village Hall – where the tours will begin.
If you prefer you can take your own tour
of the village following the instructions here.
SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR
1 The tour starts at the shops adjacent to
the Village Hall. Originally this was a 3 storey
department store, catering to the needs of
all residents, including a bakery, furniture
store and butcher with meat supplied by
Crittall’s own farms. It came out as far as
the edge of the present car park and had
a colonnade shop front. The store was
destroyed by fire on 13 September 1952.
2 Turn to look across the road to the large
brick building, Valentine House. This was
originally the Silver End Hotel, comprising
of 11 rooms plus bars, a restaurant and
a function room. It was used by Crittall to
accommodate clients and suppliers. Formally
two large glazed earthenware tar pots stood
by the main door that were removed to a
private garden. Following a fire at Christmas
in the mid 1980s, it became a lively pub with
an excellent carvery.
3 Walk to your left along the front of the car
park to Jubilee House. Originally this was a
bus shelter and public convenience but was
pulled down in 1986 to build new premises
for Fred Robinson, a local insurance broker.
4 Cross Broadway, walk along the front
of Valentine House, keeping left at the
roundabout to entrance of Memorial Gardens.
Look across the roundabout. The Village Hall
was designed by architect C. Murray Hennell
and opened by the Lord Mayor of London on
10 May 1928. It is England’s largest village
hall with a main hall, sports courts, a stage
and two smaller halls on the ground floor
and committee rooms on both floors.
5 Turn round to face the gates of the
Memorial Gardens. To the right of the
gates was a thatched roof tea rooms and
Mrs. Dunn’s open all hours shop, which is
now a private residence, owned by Fred
Robinson. The park gates show inscriptions
of the Crittall family initials. Inside the
entrance to the right there are the first of four
notice boards, owned by Braintree District
Council but now managed by Silver End
Heritage Society with photographic displays.
To the left under the trees is a memorial to
Valentine Crittall, later Lord Braintree.
6 Enter the gardens and look ahead to
a large white building. This is the Manors,
Francis Crittall’s home built in 1927 designed
by architect C.H.B. Quennell. Note the
blue plaque (top left). Servant’s quarters
were in the single story extensions on either
side. It is believed that the gardener and
chauffeur lived in the bungalows.
7 Follow the garden path to the left towards
the pond. Built in 1951 and designed by
Walter ‘Pink’ Crittall with a Japanese inspired
design, the pond included a pagoda. A
memorial plaque is set in the wall nearby.
15 Temple Lane was the first house to
be constructed in Silver End, designed by
C. Murray Hennell. The foundation stone is
low down on right of the side door. The first
six pairs of houses in Temple Lane are
different to the others, numbered 1A – 12A.
and maintained by its present owners.
Opposite is the Boars Tye farmhouse,
the first the Crittall’s bought. Dan Crittall
moved here from Le Chateau with his
wife and lived here until the 1980s.
It then became a residential home.
10 Continue left along Temple Lane, from
the crossroad, to the T-junction with Boars
Tye Road. This was the site of the original
Crittall Manufacturing Company factory
and Power House, now hidden behind
a tall hedge to the right, and is all that
remains of the large complex that has been
demolished. The Power House closest to
the hedge, produced dc electricity for the
houses (unusual for rural workers’ houses
in the 1920s) as well as for the factory.
From here you can also see the unique
Church of St. Francis and to the left
opposite the junction was the site of the
bus garage. The bus service was originally
set up by the Crittalls. The factory canteen
and picture house were also near the
bus station, but are now demolished.
15 Continue back along Boars Tye Road to
the junction and turn right into Silver Street.
1–32 Silver Street were also designed by
Tait and McManus. These are all listed
buildings. Note the windows at number 4
and the original door and letter box at number
5. One of Crittall’s main concerns was the
welfare of his workers. All houses were to
have power, light, hot and cold running water
in upstairs bathrooms and large gardens for
the workers to grow produce. Apart from the
Modernist movement styling, it is suggested
that the flat roofs were used by Crittall to
display how windows could be used. All
houses were to have a view either of open
countryside, sports fields or allotments,
use of which the ‘Guv’nor’ encouraged.
Employees could buy, part buy/rent or rent
the houses but there was a strict ‘pecking
order’, they could only have a house deemed
suitable to their position in the company.
Greenfields Housing now owns many houses
in the village and have recently replaced the
windows and doors. As the original village
was designated a conservation area in 1983,
the conservation guidance says that they
had to be steel although more recently,
aluminum is being allowed.
11 Cross the top of Temple Lane to the
left and continue along Boars Tye Road.
The large detached houses on the left
were designed by C. Murray Hennell
for the senior managers of the factory.
12 Stop before Silver Street/Boars Tye Road/
Sheepcotes Lane junction and cross the road.
Le Chateau was designed by Thomas S.
Tait of Sir John Burnet & Partners, built for
Crittall’s son Dan, who had an interest in
steam locomotion and had a miniature railway
in the garden. The house was later used for
the ‘65 Club’ a place for retired employees.
It was also a location for the 1980s TV series
‘The Nanny’. It is now a listed building.
8 Continue towards the exit of the garden
and turn left along Francis Way, towards
Broadway. 5 Francis Way was the original
telephone exchange.
13 Cross over the top of Sheepcotes Lane.
Craig Angus was designed by Tait and
Frederick McManus who was Tait’s chief
designer. It is also a listed building. Looking
further down Sheepcotes Lane you will
see the Roman Catholic church, designed
by Martin Evans, built in 1966.
9 Turn right along Broadway to crossroad
with Temple Lane. Look across the road at
the first house on corner with Valentine Way.
14 Continue along Boars Tye Road.
Wolverton was built in 1926 by Tait
and McManus, beautifully restored
16 Continue along Silver Street to the
junction with the entrance to the playing
fields, cross over to the left and stop at
entrance to the Village Hall sports field.
Here you can see evidence of the rail track
that was used to bring the gravel from the
area behind Temple Lane/Valentine Way
to build the houses. The flat roofed houses
at the lower end were built by Silver End
Development Co. set up by Crittall to develop
the village. These buildings are not listed.
Continue along Silver Street to Broadway.
Turn left at the crossroads and end back
at the shops.
TOUR OF WOLVERTON,
BOARS TYE ROAD, SILVER END
Saturday and Sunday: 11am, 12pm, 2pm,
3pm, 4pm, 5pm, booking required
The homeowners of Wolverton in Silver
End welcome visitors to learn more about
this property. Visits are pre-booked online
or you can enquire for availability at Silver
End Village Hall.
For places to eat, drink and stay whilst
in Silver End, please check the Radical
Essex map at www.radicalessex.uk
LOOPED FILM SCREENING
SILVER END SCOUT HUT
Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 6pm
Silver End Scouts invite you to the Scout Hut
for a screening of aerial footage taken over
Silver End Village. Enjoy seeing this historic
Modernist estate from the sky! The screening
will also include archival films from across the
county coordinated by Big Screen Southend.
1 East Tilbury Library
The Bata Estate, East Tilbury
TOUR OF 18 QUEEN ELIZABETH
AVENUE, THE BATA ESTATE
2 Bata Corner
3 Bata Hotel and Garage
4 Tomas Bata Statue
5 Factory Gates
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Saturday and Sunday: 11am, 12pm, 2pm,
3pm, 4pm, 5pm, booking required
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The Rolling Bean will be onsite at East
Tilbury Library serving coffee throughout
the weekend in the car park. Radical Essex
shuttle buses will drop off and pick up
here also.
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Throughout ESSEX Architecture Weekend,
the Bata Heritage Centre will host an
exhibition in East Tilbury Library, open
between 10am and 5pm where you can
experience a virtual tour of the area and
learn more about this pioneering estate.
They will also lead four guided walking
tours of the area, exploring the estate and
providing unique access to the old rubber
factory site. Walking tours are held at
11am and 2pm on each day, booked in
advance at www.radicalessex.uk. You can
enquire about availability at East Tilbury
Library, where the tour groups will meet.
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In 1933, Bata Shoe Company opened
their new factory on the Essex Marshes
at East Tilbury. Based in Czechoslovakia,
the company was founded by Tomas Bata,
who was killed in 1932 in a plane crash.
Over the next 70 years Bata was an
important part of the local economy and
an international community grew up on
the Bata Estate, comprised of houses
built for the workers by the Company.
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SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR
The best way to experience the Bata Estate
on a self-guided tour is to download the
Thurrock Mobile Explorer App and follow
the Bata Reminiscence Trail. This is
available on both iOS (search Thurrock
Mobile Explorer) and Android (search Travel
Thurrock) devices. Please remember to bring
headphones to use this. If you do not have
access to a mobile device, a limited number
of sets can be borrowed from the Bata
Heritage Centre in East Tilbury Library.
The tour is narrated by Mike Tarbard and
other residents of the estate, telling stories
of the site, featuring both the architecture
and social history. Walking to the points listed
(also show on the map) and selecting the
related number on the tour, you will hear tales
of a time gone by, and sites from each point
that would have previously been seen.
10 Bata College
11 The Avenues and Swimming Pool
The best examples of the Modernist housing
can be seen on the Avenues: Bata Avenue,
Thomas Bata Avenue, King George VI
Avenue and Queen Elizabeth Avenue.
Homeowners of 18 Queen Elizabeth
Avenue, welcome visitors to learn more
about the factory workers houses. Visits
are pre-booked online or you can enquire
for availability in person at East Tilbury
Library.
For places to eat, drink and stay whilst
in East Tilbury, please check the Radical
Essex map at www.radicalessex.uk
Frinton Park Estate, Frinton-on-Sea
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Frinton Park Estate comprises of the largest
group of individually designed Modernist
houses in the country, planned by architect
Oliver Hill in 1934, despite many of the
houses never being built. The prime 40 acres
between the railway line and the cliff top were
to be for expensive Modernist houses, whilst
areas of the rest of the Estate would be
zoned for houses of high quality architectural
designs called Tudor, Georgian, Elizabethan,
Essex and Buckingham, and would be
brick-built cottage types. Included in the
scheme was a new railway station and
Town Hall, churches, schools and a shopping
centre designed as a circus at Walton Road.
Oliver Hill returned from a spring holiday in
Palm Bay, Monte Carlo, fired with inspiration
and enthusiasm for Modernist continental
architecture. Hill designed the whole scheme,
including specifying the road names (suffixed
Ways) and some of the best houses as well
as the Estate Information Bureau (now The
Round House) and the proposed hotel in the
undercliff, the design of which is reminiscent
of The Midland Hotel at Morecombe.
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& Co., Poole. This was illustrated in ‘The
Architects Journal’ May 30 1935. Originally
designed to be the Information Bureau with
an exhibition of modern architecture by RIBA,
the Office was taken over by Tomkins, Homer
and Ley in July 1935. It was converted into
a house c.1947.
2 The Leas. Designed by Oliver Hill, The
Leas displays monolithic, reinforced concrete
cavity construction, known as the Wheeler
system. The building was originally washed
white with shell pink under the surfaces.
It was shown in F.R.S. Yorke’s ‘The Modern
House in England’ (1937 edition). The outside
ladder has now been removed and a double
garage has been added to the left.
The Leas
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Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust will lead
tours of the estate at 11am and 3pm on
Saturday 10 September, and 10.30am and
2.30pm on Sunday 11 September, meeting at
Frinton Railway Museum. Tours are to be
pre-booked at www.radicalessex.uk. You can
also check if space is available at Frinton
Railway Museum.
The Railway Museum’s Crossing Cottage
houses an impressive selection of artefacts
and archive material that tell the story of the
local area. Situated in a well-maintained
cottage garden, the grounds also include a
wildlife area and information board. This is
open 10am – 4pm on both days.
SELF-GUIDED WALKING TOUR
The Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust have
supplied the following information about the
key streets to help you explore the estate.
1 Cliff Way. Number 3 was designed
by R.J. Page, numbers 6 and 7 by Oliver
Hill, and number 4 a combination of both
architects. Number 7, also know as The
Round House is Grade II listed, with a mosaic
floor depicting the entire community designed
by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis for Carter
3 Warley Way. Number 16 is known
as Willingale, another of Oliver Hill’s
masterpieces. It displays render on brick/
blockwork and was a show home with five
bedrooms and a maid’s room. The show
home brochure indicated it to have Marion
Dorn carpets and curtains and woodblock
flooring in Deal or Columbian Pine.
4 Easton Way. Hill planned for plots
in Easton Way to be allocated to the cream
of young designers in the contemporary
style such as Frederick Gibberd, Erich
Mendelsohn, Serge Chermayeff, Tecton,
Wells Coates, F.R.S. Yorke, Maxwell
Fry, W.C. Holford & Gordon Stevenson,
Raymond McGrath and Connell, Ward
& Lucas. Unfortunately not many took up
this opportunity, the houses were designed
by R.A. Duncan, Hall, Easton & Robertson,
Frederick Etchells, Marshall Sisson,
E. Warmsley Lewis, as well as Hill himself.
Of the home he designed, number 21,
the Managing Director of the Frinton Park
Estate Marshall Sisson said ‘it has an
unfortunate exterior ... (and will) be
difficult to sell ... Simple square box with
row of five windows in first floor at front
and six on the left ... Rather neo-classical
and Italian fascist’.
5 Central Avenue. Before 2 April, 2015, if
you had gone over the railway bridge you
would have seen ‘Frinton Park Court’, the
derelict remains of the intended shopping
centre designed by Oliver Hill, but now
unfortunately demolished. Only one bay
of the circus was ever built.
6 Audley Way. Audley Way was designed
by Oliver Hill, the architect responsible
for planning Frinton Park Estate. Numbers
1, 3 and 4 were featured in the original
sales brochure. Number 4 was built for
the Rev. Robert Dobie as a seaside annex
to his college at Gt. Chesterford, Cambridge.
Originally there were two ladders on the
outside, now removed, with the front door
repositioned and garage added to the right.
7 Graces Walk. Graces Walk was designed
by J.T. Shelton, the resident architect
for Tomkins, Homer & Ley with houses still
showing many of the original features, for
example the outside ladder at number 18.
8 Quendon Way. Numbers 55 and 57 were
designed by Oliver Hill, named Dawn and
Sunnyholme. Both have been sympathetically
restored and extended for modern living.
They were pictured in a Country Life article
‘A Planned Seaside Resort’ in 1935.
9 Waltham Way. Houses in Waltham Way
were also designed by J.T. Shelton. Number
4 displays a traditional style, with a Dutch
gable over the front door. Numbers 14 and
22 both have new Crittall windows installed.
TOUR OF 11 & 18 GRACES WALK,
12 EASTON WAY, FRINTON PARK ESTATE
Homeowners of three properties on the
estate invite you to explore the features
of the original designs of the largest collection
of individually designed Modernist houses
in the country. The Graces Walk properties
were designed by J.T. Shelton, with
12 Easton Way by Howard Robertson.
Visits are pre-booked online or you can
enquire for availability in person at Frinton
Railway Museum.
Saturday: 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm,
5pm, booking required
For places to eat, drink and stay whilst in
Frinton-on-Sea, please check the Radical
Essex map at www.radicalessex.uk
Dunton Plotlands
The Plotlands existed on the heavy clay
known to farmers as ‘three-horse land’,
which was the first to go out of cultivation
in the agricultural depression. The Plotland
properties were built on this land by families
(mainly from London’s East End) who bought
individual plots. Although originally intended
as holiday homes, the Second World War
meant that many families came to live in their
Plotland homes permanently. The huts and
houses were made from various salvaged
materials and structures: army huts, old
railway coaches, sheds, shanties and chalets,
which evolved over time.
The Haven is the last of nearly 200 Plotlands
homes that occupied the site now owned
by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Owned by the
Mills family since it was built in the 1930s,
it was still standing when the Wildlife Trust
took ownership of the reserve in the 1980s.
The Haven is now a museum, dedicated
to showing people what life was like during
the difficult years of the 1930s and 1940s,
giving a glimpse to the life of Londoners
who purchased land to turn into a country
getaway. The Haven is the last remaining
bungalow out of hundreds which once
stood on the reserve. Visit the Haven
museum itself complete with authentic
memorabilia, gardens, workshop,
washroom and Anderson shelter.
The Essex Wildlife Trust is set in a stunning
nature reserve of 461 acres which comprises
of woodland, meadows, lakes and former
plotland gardens. If you wish to explore
the area further and learn more of the
history, pick up a copy of the Plotlands
Walk at Langdon visitor centre.
Radical Essex shuttle buses will stop
at this venue. The museum is open
10am – 4pm over the weekend.
University of Essex, Colchester Campus
In 1964 something fierce emerged in rural
Essex – a new University determined to
break with tradition. The University of Essex’s
Colchester Campus was built in the 1960s
and designed in the new brutalist style by
architect Kenneth Capon. Intended as a
‘vocational powerhouse to train a technocratic
elite’ there are no freestanding buildings
for autonomous departments, and instead
they are distributed in a zig-zag around
five squares to encourage meetings between
different disciplines and schools.
rational combination of steel and glass
in a graph paper pattern, Brutalists used
powerful sculptural forms and raw concrete
to create powerful memorable images rather
than beautiful ones.
The Architect’s Journal wrote that the campus
embodied ‘the most adventurous academic
and social ideas to have emerged from the
universities’ due to the way the layout of
the buildings mirrored the overarching ethos
for the university. The designers believed
in Brutalism, a major change in direction in
architecture. Unlike the first wave of modern
architecture in the 1920s with its sleekly
Tours take place at 11am and 3pm,
lasting approximately 1.5 hours,
booking required. Tours meet at the
Radical Essex shuttle bus stop on
Boundary Road/Valley Road.
Jess Twyman, curator of Art Exchange
at University of Essex will lead tours of
the campus, which will include the iconic
north towers, the paternoster lifts and the
architectural exhibition ‘Something Fierce’,
co-curated by Jess.
Across ESSEX
ESSEX Architecture Weekend has invited Modernist sites
from across the county to participate in the weekend.
We are grateful to all homeowners for opening their doors.
TOUR OF TYDINGS, MAYLANDSEA
TOUR OF 164 CRESSING ROAD,
BRAINTREE
owes something to Corbusian predecessors
(Vauxcresson, Stein/De Monzie), its main
inspiration must have been the preliminary
drawings for Tecton’s flats in Highgate.
Saturday and Sunday: 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm,
3.30pm, booking required
BEECROFT GALLERY,
VICTORIA AVENUE, SOUTHEND-ON-SEA
TOUR OF 73 VICARAGE HILL,
BENFLEET
The Glebe on Vicarage Hill, Benfleet
consists of 6 detached Modernist houses
designed by renowned Essex architect
Norman W.T. Brooks, displaying an
early 1960s style, completed in 1963.
The owner of number 73 will explain more
of this development.
Sunday: 11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm,
1pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm,
4pm, 4.30pm, booking required
This 1970s Modernist gem is open for
visitors to explore at the grateful invitation
of the homeowners. An incredible property
not to be missed!
TOUR OF 180 BISHOPSFIELD ESTATE,
HARLOW
Saturday: 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am,
12pm, 12.30pm, booking required
TOUR OF ROYAL CORINTHIAN
YACHT CLUB, BURNHAM-ON-CROUCH
Cressing Road is the site of the country’s first
Modernist buildings, a pair of experimental
cottages designed in 1917. Homeowners of
a neighbouring property explain more about
the site.
Saturday: 10am, 10.30am, 11am, 11.30am,
12pm, 12.30pm, booking required
Members of Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
lead a tour of this wonderful building. Royal
Corinthian Yacht Club was designed by
Joseph Emberton and represented Britain
in MoMA’s ‘Modern Architecture: International
Exhibition’ in 1932, and has been compared
to an ocean liner for its sleek white structure
and location.
TOUR OF THE SUNSHINE HOUSE,
64 HEATH DRIVE, ROMFORD
Beecroft Art Gallery brings together the best
of local and historic talent, spanning fine art
and costume to inspire you. Sited in the old
Brutalist library in Southend-on-Sea the
building was designed by Borough Architect
R. Horwell, opening in 1974.
Saturday and Sunday: 10am – 5pm
TOUR OF 52 AND 62 CLATTERFIELD
GARDENS, WESTCLIFF-ON-SEA
The properties of Clatterfield Gardens were
designed by Douglas Niel Martin-Kaye, a
Swiss architect who moved to England to
lecture in architecture in Southend-on-Sea.
He was responsible for a number of buildings
in the area, including the tennis pavilion in
Westcliff-on-Sea. He was admitted ARIBA
in 1919 and FRIBA in 1929, before leaving
Essex in the 1940s, moving to London where
he had a practice in Doughty Street.
Saturday: 11am, booking required
Sunday: 1pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm,
3.30pm, 4pm, 4.30pm, booking required
64 Heath Drive was the responsibility
of Francis Skinner of Tecton, then around
25 years old, and was the prize-winning
house in its class. Although the design
Known locally as ‘the Kasbah’ the
Bishopsfield Estate, just south of Harlow
New Town, is credited as influencing many
later generations of architects and town
planners. Its design was chosen via an
open competition in 1961, and the winner
was 24 year old graduate Michael Neylan,
who at the time was working with Chamberlin,
Powell & Bon.
Sunday: 10.30am, 11.30am, 12.30pm,
2pm, 3pm, booking required
ESSEX Architecture Weekend Talks Programme
THE JOY OF ESSEX
Screening and Q&A with Jonathan Meades
Curated by Warren Harper and Stephanie Sutton, the talks
will investigate the significant role Essex has played within
British Modernism, in terms of geographical and social position
and proximity to the capital. All talks take place in Silver End
Village Hall priced at £5.00 per ticket. These can be booked in
advance or bought on the door, subject to availability.
postwar period. The session will explore
how architectural developments from the
continent and the United States influenced
Britain’s architectural projects, forming
a trajectory between local contexts and
international trends.
Discussions will touch upon architect
Wells Coates and his involvement with
EKCO, the British radio company based
in Southend-on-Sea; the worker villages
of Silver End and Bata, East Tilbury as
well as architect Raymond Erith and his
work in the village of Dedham.
A Q&A with the writer, journalist, essayist
and film-maker Jonathan Meades will
follow a screening of the BBC4 programme
‘The Joy of Essex’ (2013) which sees
Meades explore the county’s radical
and nonconformist past.
Saturday: 4pm – 6pm
Sunday: 2pm – 3.30pm
VISIONS OF UTOPIA
Gillian Darley, Owen Hatherley,
Sam Jacob and Verity-Jane Keefe
THE CRADLE OF BRITISH MODERNISM?
ESSEX ARCHITECTURE, THE INTERWAR
YEARS AND POST-WAR LEGACY
Catherine Croft, Elizabeth Darling,
Alan Powers and Ellen Thorogood
LANDSCAPE, IDENTITY
AND THE LONDON SPILL
Tim Burrows, Matthew Butcher,
Charles Holland, Rachel Lichtenstein
and Ken Worpole
As an introduction to ESSEX Architecture
Weekend, this panel discussion will explore
the relationship between London and Essex,
mapping out a collective cultural history
between county and capital. The session
will consider why Essex in particular has
been a site of experimental thought and
lifestyle, examining its proximity to London
and the shared waterway of the Thames,
a landscape that has offered both industry
and recreation. The session will also
reflect on the ever-changing perceptions
of the county, considering life on the
periphery of the city and the redrawing
of county lines in the creation of cultural
identities. Exploring this relationship will
contextualise the weekend’s programme
and lay out why Essex holds particularly
fertile ground for radical architectural
developments and the socio-political
projects they foster.
Saturday: 2pm – 3.30pm
Visions of Utopia presents a series of short
talks that relate to the wider themes within
the ESSEX Architecture Weekend talks
programme, exploring the notion of utopia
in either built or ideological form.
Can Essex claim to be the ‘birthplace’
of Modernist architecture in Britain? If so,
what evidence is there to suggest this and
what roles have building projects such as
Silver End and Bata, East Tilbury played
in this wider narrative? The aim of this
session is to discuss the somewhat
overlooked architectural history of
Essex in relation to both the International
Style prevalent during the interwar years
and architectural developments of the
Subjects include Trotskyist Summer Camps
on Mersea Island, the 1973 Essex Design
Guide, the imagination of postwar urban
planning, and the evolution of the Essex
Plotlands. Focusing on individual subject
matters, these talks will place a spotlight on
lesser-known examples whilst questioning
established narratives within social and
architectural history.
Sunday: 4pm – 6pm
Commissions
Radical ESSEX has commissioned three new projects for ESSEX
Architecture Weekend, all available to view at Silver End Village
Hall, celebrating the architectural history of the county, past,
present and future.
ALAN KANE: THE RADICAL NATIONAL
TRUST OF SOUTH ESSEX
HAT PROJECTS:
ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION
Essex based HAT Project’s installation for
Silver End translates the spirit of
experimentation that the Radical Essex
programme celebrates, into their own
exploration of lightweight engineering and
methods of creating the maximum visual and
spatial impact with the least possible material
consumption.
Influenced in form and colour by constructivist
sculpture, graphic design of the Crittall
period, and Cedric Price’s experimental
engineering, the installation is created from
lightweight aluminium poles and a kilometre
of shockcord, with a tetrahedral geometry that
creates both strength and stability but also a
pleasingly irregular spatial dynamic.
Alan Kane launches ‘The Radical National
Trust of South Essex’ with a free fundraising
disco, featuring Speak and Spell, a Depeche
Mode tribute band and DJ sets from Bob
Stanley. ‘The Radical National Trust of
South Essex’ was inaugurated to recognise
and celebrate places of unofficially significant
architectural design and places bearing
aspects of notable human influence.
Made partly in response to the apparent lack
of ‘official’ National Trust properties in the
region TRNTOSE will also attempt to record
and endorse the often ephemeral aspects
of the built environment which are in the
hands of the woman/man on the street.
Kane will be awarding plaques to remarkable
examples of recent South Essex heritage
landmarks over the coming months and
into 2017.
Saturday: 6.30–10.30pm
It is designed to be easily demounted and
erected on multiple occasions and with the
potential for alternative configurations.
CURL LA TOURELLE HEAD
ARCHITECTURE AND THE
EVERYDAY PRESS: DETAILS
A new volume of the Details booklet
will be dedicated to a selection of significant
buildings in Essex, continuing the method
of drawing peculiar architectural features
and compiling them into a portable booklet.
This volume, augmented with an essay by
architect Charles Holland, is supported by
London architecture practice AHMM and
published by The Everyday Press.
The Essex volume will be available to
purchase for £12.00 from Silver End
Village Hall.
‘Building the Future’ Family Workshop
‘Building the Future’ is a free drop-in family
arts workshop from the Focal Point Gallery
learning team. Taking place in Silver End
Village Hall, with artist-led sessions that
will reference the county’s pioneering
twentieth century architecture, you will
be guided to create your own family design
and artwork using drawing, collage and
cardboard construction.
Florence Dwyer and Simon Worthington work
together to produce work and run workshops
that explores themes of communal making
and ways of living. Recent projects include
‘Making the Bed, Laying the Table’, a group
exhibition of functional household objects
produced with Katie Schwab, exhibited at
Glasgow’s Sculpture Studios and a Research
Residency at Project Ability, Glasgow.
Two workshop sessions will take place
simultaneously. In the first session, Florence
Dwyer and Simon Worthington will run
a wearable building workshop. Inspired
by the Plotlands developments and the
county’s Modernist architecture, you will
be encouraged to create your own wearable
paper building to add to a utopian landscape.
The second focuses on basketry and
sculptural weaving techniques, using
industrial and unusual materials to
create imagined built landscapes,
led by India Harvey.
India Harvey is a cross-disciplinary artist
with a focus on constructed textile and
participatory work. In the past India has
worked on projects with the South London
Gallery, the Arnolfini and National Gallery
as well as working and exhibiting in Sweden
and the UK.
These are free drop-in workshops for all
ages, however children must be accompanied
by an adult. Book your activities on the
day in person at Silver End Village Hall
from 10.30am, for one of the following
sessions: Saturday and Sunday:
11am – 12pm, 12pm – 1pm, 2pm – 3pm,
3pm – 4pm, all are welcome.
Bus Route and Passport
Silver End
Village Hall
Witham Railway Station
University of Essex Colchester Campus
Boundary Road/Valley Road bus stop
Frinton-on-Sea
Frinton Railway Museum
Dunton Plotlands
Essex Wildlife Visitor Centre
Bata Estate
East Tilbury Library
Get your passport stamped at the five destinations on our bus
route to claim your free ESSEX Architecture Weekend T-shirt.
Bus Timetable
Events Listings
Saturday
South Essex Route: Silver End to Bata
Depart
Silver End Village Hall
.....
10:45
11:45
12:45
.....
14:45
15:45
16:45
18:00
18:15
18:35
Arrive
Witham Railway Station
.....
10:55
11:55
12:55
.....
14:55
15:55
16:55
18:10
18:25
18:45
Depart
Witham Railway Station
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
13:30
15:00
16:00
.....
.....
18:30
.....
Arrive
Dunton Plotlands Visitor Centre
10:55
11:55
12:55
13:55
14:25
15:55
16:55
.....
.....
.....
.....
Depart
Dunton Plotlands Visitor Centre
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
14:30
16:00
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
Arrive
Bata Estate East Tilbury Library
11:25
12:25
13:25
14:25
14:55
16:25
.....
.....
.....
19:25
.....
SILVER END
THE BATA ESTATE
Self-Guided Walking Tour of Silver
End Village, start at Silver End Village
Hall, Main Hall, Witham, CM8 3RQ,
10am – 6pm
Silver End Heritage Society Exhibition,
Silver End Village Hall, Silver End Heritage
Society, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 10am – 6pm
South Essex Route: Bata to Silver End
Depart
Bata Estate East Tilbury Library
.....
.....
10:30
11:30
12:30
13:30
14:30
15:00
.....
16:30
.....
Arrive
Dunton Plotlands Visitor Centre
.....
.....
10:50
11:55
12:55
13:55
14:55
15:25
.....
16:55
.....
Depart
Dunton Plotlands Visitor Centre
.....
....
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
15:30
.....
17:00
.....
Arrive
Witham Railway Station
.....
.....
11:55
12:55
13:55
14:55
15:55
16:25
.....
17:55
17:55
Depart
Witham Railway Station
10:00
11:00
12:00
.....
14:00
15:00
16:00
16:30
17:00
18:00
18:30
Arrive
Silver End Village Hall
10:10
11:10
12:10
.....
14:10
15:10
16:10
16:40
17:10
18:10
18:40
North Essex Route: Silver End to Frinton
Depart
Silver End Village Hall
.....
10:45
12:15
13:15
14:15
14:45
16:15
17:15
18:15
Arrive
Witham Railway Station
.....
10:55
12:25
13:25
14:25
14:55
16:25
17:25
18:25
Depart
Witham Railway Station
10:30
11:00
12:30
13:30
14:30
15:00
16:30
.....
18:30
Arrive
University Of Essex, Colchester
(Boundary Road/Valley Road)
11:10
11:40
13:10
14:10
15:10
15:40
17:10
.....
19:10
Depart
University Of Essex, Colchester
(Boundary Road/Valley Road)
11:15
11:45
13:15
14:15
15:15
15:45
.....
.....
19:15
Arrive
Frinton-on-Sea
(Railway Station car park)
11:55
12:25
13:55
14:55
15:55
16:25
.....
.....
19:55
North Essex Route: Frinton to Silver End
Depart
Frinton-on-Sea
(Railway Station car park)
.....
10:00
11:00
12:00
12:30
14:00
15:00
16:00
16:30
Arrive
University Of Essex, Colchester
(Boundary Road/Valley Road)
.....
10:40
11:40
12:40
13:10
14:40
15:40
16:40
17:10
Depart
University Of Essex, Colchester
(Boundary Road/Valley Road)
.....
10:45
11:45
12:45
13:15
14:45
15:45
16:45
17:15
Arrive
Witham Railway Station
.....
11:25
12:25
13:25
13:55
15:25
16:25
17:25
17:55
Depart
Witham Railway Station
10:00
11:30
12:30
13:30
14:00
15:30
16:30
.....
18:00
Arrive
Silver End Village Hall
10:10
11:40
12:40
13:40
14:10
15:40
16:40
.....
18:15
Buses will return from Silver End Village
Hall to Witham Railway Station at 8.30pm
and 10.30pm on Saturday evening
Saturday only
Sunday only
Looped Film Screening – Silver End Archive,
Silver End Scout Hut HQ, Silver Street,
Witham, CM8 3PQ, 10am – 6pm
Walking Tour of Silver End Village led
by members of Silver End Heritage
Society, meet at Silver End Village Hall,
Main Hall, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 11am
and 3pm, booking required
Tour of Wolverton, Boars Tye Road,
Silver End, Witham CM8 3QE, 11am,
12pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, booking required
‘Building the Future’ Family Workshop,
Silver End Village Hall, Small Hall, Witham,
CM8 3RQ, sessions 11am – 12pm, 12pm
– 1pm, 2pm – 3pm, 3pm – 4pm, booking
required (onsite at Silver End Village Hall)
‘Landscape, Identity and the London
Spill’ with Tim Burrows, Matthew Butcher,
Charles Holland, Rachel Lichtenstein
and Ken Worpole, Silver End Village Hall,
Main Hall, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 2pm – 3.30pm,
£5.00
‘The Joy of Essex’ Screening and Q&A with
Jonathan Meades, Silver End Village Hall,
Main Hall, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 4pm – 6pm,
£5.00
Alan Kane’s free fundraising ‘The Radical
National Trust of South Essex’ Disco
with Speak and Spell and Bob Stanley,
Silver End Village Hall, Main Hall,
Witham, CM8 3RQ, 6.30 – 10.30pm
Self-Guided Walking Tour of the Bata Estate,
start at Bata Heritage Centre, East Tilbury
Library, Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST
10am – 6pm
Bata Heritage Centre Exhibition, East Tilbury
Library, Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST,
10am – 5pm
Walking Tour of the Bata Estate led
by members of Bata Heritage Centre,
meet at Bata Heritage Centre, East Tilbury
Library, Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST,
11am and 2pm, booking required
Tour of 18 Queen Elizabeth Avenue,
Bata Estate, East Tilbury, RM18 8SP,
11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm,
booking required
FRINTON-ON-SEA
Self-Guided Walking Tour of Frinton Park
Estate, start at Frinton Railway, Cottage
Museum, Station Approach, Frinton,
10am – 6pm
Frinton & Walton Heritage Trust Exhibition,
Frinton Railway, Cottage Museum,
Station Approach, Frinton, 10am – 4pm
Walking Tour of Frinton Park Estate
by members of the Frinton and Walton
Heritage Trust, meet at Frinton Railway,
Cottage Museum, Station Approach,
Frinton, 11am and 3pm, booking required
Sunday
SILVER END
Tour of 11 and 18 Graces Walk, Frinton Park
Estate, CO13 9PQ, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm,
4pm, 5pm, booking required
PLOTLANDS
Self-Guided Walking Tour of the Bata Estate,
start at Bata Heritage Centre, East Tilbury
Library, Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST,
10am – 6pm
Bata Heritage Centre Exhibition, East Tilbury
Library, Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST,
10am – 5pm
PLOTLANDS
The Haven Plotlands Museum, Essex Wildlife
Trust Langdon Visitor Centre, Lower Dunton
Road, SS16 6EB, 10am – 4pm
Self-Guided Walking Tour of Silver End
Village, start at Silver End Village Hall,
Main Hall, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 10am – 6pm
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
Silver End Heritage Society Exhibition,
Silver End Village Hall, Silver End Heritage
Society, Witham, CM8 3RQ, 10am – 6pm
ACROSS ESSEX
Tour of 164 Cressing Road, Braintree,
CM7 3PL, 10am, 10.30am, 11am,
11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm, booking required
Beecroft Gallery, Victoria Avenue,
Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX, 10am – 5pm
Tour of Tydings, Esplanade West, Mayland,
Chelmsford, CM3 6AW, 10am, 10.30am,
11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm, booking
required
Tour of Royal Corinthian Yacht Club,
The Quay, Burnham-On-Crouch, CM0 8AX,
11am, booking required
Tour of The Sunshine House, 64 Heath Drive,
Romford, RM2 5QR, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm,
3.30pm, booking required
Walking Tour of Frinton Park Estate by
members of the Frinton and Walton Heritage
Trust, meet at Frinton Railway, Cottage
Museum, Station Approach, Frinton,
10.30am and 2.30pm, booking required
BATA
Tour of 12 Easton Way, Frinton Park Estate,
C013 9NU, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm,
4pm, 5pm, booking required
Walking Tour of University of Essex,
Colchester Campus led by Jess Twyman,
University of Essex, Colchester Campus,
CO4 3SQ, 11am and 3pm, booking required
‘Visions of Utopia’ with Gillian Darley, Owen
Hatherley, Sam Jacob and Verity-Jane Keefe,
Silver End Village Hall, Main Hall, Witham,
CM8 3RQ, 4pm – 6pm, £5.00
Looped Film Screening – Silver End Archive,
Silver End Scout Hut HQ, Silver Street,
Witham, CM8 3PQ, 10am – 6pm
Walking Tour of Silver End Village led by
members of Silver End Heritage Society,
meet at Silver End Village Hall, Main Hall,
Witham, CM8 3RQ, 11am and 3pm, booking
required
Walking Tour of the Bata Estate, led by
members of Bata Heritage Centre, meet at
Bata Heritage Centre, East Tilbury Library,
Princess Avenue, RM18 8ST, 11am and 2pm,
booking required
‘The Cradle of British Modernism? Essex
Architecture, the Interwar Years and Postwar Legacy’ with Catherine Croft, Elizabeth
Darling, Alan Powers and Ellen Thorogood,
Silver End Village Hall – Main Hall, Witham,
CM8 3RQ, 2pm – 3.30pm, £5.00
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
Walking Tour of University of Essex,
Colchester Campus led by Jess Twyman
University of Essex, Colchester Campus,
CO4 3SQ, 11am and 3pm, booking required
ACROSS ESSEX
Tour of 18 Queen Elizabeth Avenue,
Bata Estate, East Tilbury, RM18 8SP,
11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm,
booking required
FRINTON-ON-SEA
Beecroft Gallery, Victoria Avenue,
Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX, 10am – 5pm
Tour of 180 Bishopsfield Estate, Harlow,
CM18 6UT, 10.30am, 11.30am, 12.30pm,
2pm, 3pm, booking required
Tour of 73 Vicarage Hill, Benfleet, SS7 1PD,
11am, 11.30am, 12pm, 12.30pm, 1pm,
1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm,
4pm, 4.30pm, booking required
Tour of Wolverton, Boars Tye Road, Silver
End, Witham CM8 3QE, 11am, 12pm, 2pm,
3pm, 4pm, 5pm, booking required
‘Building the Future’ Family Workshop,
Silver End Village Hall, Small Hall,
Witham, CM8 3RQ, sessions 11am – 12pm,
12pm – 1pm, 2pm – 3pm, 3pm – 4pm,
booking required (onsite at Silver End
Village Hall)
The Haven Plotlands Museum, Essex Wildlife
Trust Langdon Visitor Centre, Lower Dunton
Road, SS16 6EB, 10am – 4pm
Tour of 52 and 62 Clatterfield Gardens,
Westcliff-on-Sea, SS0 0AX, 1pm, 1.30pm,
2pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm, 4pm, 4.30pm,
booking required
Self-Guided Walking Tour of Frinton Park
Estate, start at Frinton Railway, Cottage
Museum, Station Approach, Frinton,
10am – 6pm
Frinton & Walton Heritage Trust Exhibition,
Frinton Railway, Cottage Museum, Station
Approach, Frinton, 10am – 4pm
Tour of The Sunshine House, 64 Heath
Drive, Romford, RM2 5QR, 2pm, 2.30pm,
3pm, 3.30pm, booking required
Radical Essex would like to give special
thanks to the following people:
Abellio Greater Anglia, Albany Arts, Arts
Council England, Isobel Baird, Anna Basham,
Bata Heritage Centre, Beecroft Art Gallery,
Tim Burrows, Matthew Butcher, C2C,
Colchester Council, Catherine Croft, Curl la
Tourelle Head Architects, Gillian Darley,
Elizabeth Darling, Arnaud Desjardin, Florence
Dwyer, Essex County Council, Essex Wildlife
Trust, Jes Fernie, Firstsite, Five Leaves
Publications, the team at Focal Point Gallery,
Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust, Francesca
Genovese, Go Ahead London, Warren
Harper, India Harvey, HAT Projects, Owen
Hatherley, Heritage Open Days, Paula Hobbs,
Pauline Hockley, Susie Hodge, Charles
Holland, Julie Hopkins, Catherine Hyland,
Charlie Inskip and Nancy Stevenson,
Sam Jacob, Judith and Tony Jones,
Moira Jones, Alan Kane, Verity-Jane Keefe,
Kate Knights, Rachel Lichtenstein,
Malvern and Emma May, Jonathan Meades,
Fraser Muggeridge studio, Nazari,
Kaveeta Parchment, Alan Powers,
Riah Pryor, Clare Purser, Red Fox Brewery,
Alex Rich, RIBA East, Rivenhall Hotel,
The Rolling Bean, Silver End Heritage
Society, Silver End Scouts, Silver End
Social Club, Alan Smith, Sound Choice
Hire, Southend Borough Council, Speak
and Spell Band, Members and Management,
Bob Stanley, Michael Sullivan, Stephanie
Sutton, Mary Tebje, this is tomorrow,
Ellen Thorogood, Rachel Treliving,
Twelve, Jess Twyman, University of Essex,
May Vaclavik, Lauren Verney, VisitEngland,
Visit Essex, Alan and Victoria Waine,
the late Colin Ward, Wivenhoe House,
Ken Worpole, Simon Worthington.
ESSEX Architecture Weekend is part of
‘Radical Essex’ a project led by Focal Point
Gallery in partnership with Visit Essex and
Firstsite, taking place throughout Essex
in 2016 and 2017. Supported using public
funding by the National Lottery through
Arts Council England it forms part of
the country-wide Cultural Destinations
programme, a partnership with VisitEngland,
supporting arts organisations to work
with the tourism sector to deliver projects
to maximise the impact culture has on
local economies.
Photography: Catherine Hyland
Design: Fraser Muggeridge studio
Radical Essex
Director: Joe Hill
Project Manager: Hayley Dixon
Project Assistant: Hannah Rose Whittle
Volunteers: Teresa Bianchi, Nat Bullard,
David Doherty, Eva Duerden, Connie
Gallagher, Tom Houghton, Alice Jackson,
Mary Lister, Mark Napier, Laura Phelps,
Sean Rowlands, Holly Shuttleworth,
James Torble, Jacob Watmore
www.radicalessex.uk
@RadicalEssex