Canada Gardens, 75-103 Saville Street (EHER 40605)

Two terraces of foundry workers' cottages built by Warner's Crescent Foundry.

In around 1875 Warner built ‘Canada Gardens’, 75–103 Saville Street, two terraces (one of 10 and the other of five) of brick and render cottages under slate roofs. Also built were Broomfield Cottages (EHER 40604) and First Avenue (EHER 40606). John Warner, a bell-founder with a foundry in East London from 1790s, and later a resident of Hoddesdon, Herts, built East Terrace in Walton in 1836 as a property on the coast where he and his family could get away from London for healthy air and sea-bathing. John’s son Robert took over the business on the death in 1869 of his elder brother who had inherited the business. The Walton ‘Crescent’ Foundry was built in 1871/2 to produce a variety of machinery including wind pumps, portable boilers, steam engines and machinery for rubber plantations. At its peak Robert Warner and Co.’s engineering works provided the main employment in the town, having 300 staff. Robert took an interest in his staff’s welfare and built a number of houses on various sites close to the foundry, which eventually closed in 1921. <1>