History of the Building & Area

Formerly the McIntyre & Hogg shirt factory in the late 1860's, and then the flag and tent makers Adam & Lane & Neeve through the 1960's, this charming red brick building nestled between Mile End Park and Regents Canal was converted to flats in the late 1990's. It is now one of the most coveted original factory conversions in east London.

The quiet street was also home to the original Dr Barnardo's Copperfield Road Ragged School, which opened in 1877. The Ragged School Museum is now based within the original buildings on this site opening in 1990.

Flag making at Falcon Works

Lane & Neeve were founded in 1863. They made tents, tarpaulins, and flags in a factory at 4, The Minories, EC. They were one of only two major companies in England that made flags right up to the end of the Second World War, both were major contractors to the Admiralty until at least the 1960s. Lane & Neeve also had a factory called Britannia Works off East Ferry Road on the Isle of Dogs where they had a big sail loft where they manufactured and repaired sails for large sailing ships such as the Tea Clipper, Cutty Sark.

Adam & Co was founded in the mid-1890s. In 1908 they took over Falcon Works from the shirt and textile manufacturers, McIntyre & Hogg. By 1925 Lane & Neeve had taken oven Adam Ltd. and became Adam & Lane & Neeve (ALN), the sail loft moved from Britannia Works to Falcon Works at this time.

ALN was known to be a profitable company with a large staff. It is said that one of the directors helped the BBC design their original flag. ALN made the Union Flag that flew over the Victoria Tower at the upriver end of the Houses of Parliament. It was the largest flag the company made, about the size of a tennis court, and could not be flown in a high wind. A smaller Union Flag manufactured by ALN was presented to Ernest Shackleton by King George V, 5 August 1914. ALN also made the flag draped over the coffin at the funeral of King George V in 1936.

Following Word War II business continued well, especially with the flags needed for street decorations for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. However, by the early 1960s business had just about collapsed; there was limited demand for sails since recreational boating was not yet popular and sailing ships had been replaced, there was little demand for flags, pull-out shop blinds were disappearing, and wooden roller shutters were being replaced by steel. ALN focused more so on recreational tents, with models such as the Falcon Fiesta, Falcon Firefly and Falcon Fairhome. Adam & Lane & Neeve ultimately ceased trading and left Falcon Works in about 1970.

Falcon Works in 1952

A view of Copperfield Road, Stepney, taken from Canal Road near Woodison Street, with factories and vacant plots. There are cars and trucks parked in Copperfield Road, and a vehicle under a tarpaulin in what was Woodison Street. A gasometer, part of the Commercial Gas Works in Ben Jonson Road, can be seen in the distance beyond the Grand Union Canal. Copperfield Road has a fenced area to the left where terraced housing once stood, prior to destruction in World War II. A Ministry of Works Camp and prefabs were erected on the site.

Football pitches, part of Mile End Park, now occupy this plot on the east side of Copperfield Road. Canal Road and Woodison Street, along with a network of other roads, no longer exist, having been swallowed up by the park. The dominant factory in Copperfield Road is now Falcon Works apartments. The two single-storey buildings to the right of Falcon Works, and the majority to the left have been demolished and replaced with flats.

If you have any other information or photos about Faclon Works or the local area to contribute to this page, please get in touch.

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