Welcome
This site is dedicated to the men of Highams Park that were employees of the Xylonite factory, that made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1918
Xylonite Main Entrance
A site for a new factory to make finished articles from Xylonite produced at Brantham was acquired in 1895 when the company purchased Jack's Farm, then totalling 66 acres at Hale End, Walthamstow.
As we understand it, the Highams Park War Memorial was erected in the grounds of the Halex (British Xylonite) Factory in honour of the men that worked there and gave their lives in the First World War.
When the Factory in Highams Park closed in 1970 the memorials plaques were removed and mounted on the identical Cenotaph that had been erected in the grounds of the companies Brantham factory, dedicated to the men of Brantham that had given their lives in the Great War. Brantham on the Essex/Suffolk border was the site of the companies original factory that was built in 1887.
The Cenotaph commemorates the 44 men from Highams Park that answered the call to fight for King & Country in the First World War of 1914-1918 and never returned. Below the main Bronze panel, is a smaller one commemorating those men from Highams Park that gave their lives in the Second World War. There are 7 men commemorated on this smaller panel. Click the "Photos" Button on the menu at the top of the page or click here to look at the photographs now.
We need your help
We are working in conjunction with the Highams Park Society, to ensure that the memorial is restored back in Highams Park as close as possible to where it originally stood. We are hoping to either re-claim (with the generous permission of the people of Brantham) or have a duplicate made of all or part of the memorial that can be erected in Highams Park, where even today relatives of the dead still live. Please show your approval by registering your vote on our poll.
Update:- Meeting in Brantham to discuss the memorial