England's Glory is a brand of non-safety

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

es, available in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, using a celebrated image of a Victorian

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

, .

History

The product was originally made in the still-standing 'Moreland's Match Manufactory' in Bristol Road,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

by S. J. Moreland and Sons, who became a subsidiary of

Bryant and May Bryant & May was a British match manufacturer, which today exists only as a brand name owned by Swedish Match. The company was formed in the mid-19th century as a dry goods trader, with its first match works, the Bryant & May Factory, located ...

in 1913, although full ownership by Bryant and May only came in 1938.Beaver, Patrick (1985). ''The Match Makers: The Story of Bryant & May''. London: Henry Melland Limited. . Consolidation of match production within

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

led to Bryant and May's matches being made at Garston in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. ''England's Glory'' then became a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

for matches made at Bryant and May's Garston factory which were sold mainly in the North of England and the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

. The matches made in Glasgow were marketed in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as ''Scottish Bluebell'' matches. Bryant and May themselves ceased to exist in the 1980s, but ''England's Glory'' and ''Scottish Bluebell'' branded matches have stopped being manufactured in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

by the company

Swedish Match Swedish Match AB is a Swedish multinational tobacco company headquartered in Stockholm. It has been owned by the American Philip Morris International since 2022. The company manufactures snus, nicotine pouches, moist snuff, tobacco- and nicotine ...

. The modern England's Glory matchbox design is, however, not the previous design, which used to have jokes on the back, submitted by members of the public. One example was: "A visitor to London, annoyed a cabbie by boastful comparisons of English and American buildings. When they reached the Thames, the American said, 'Driver, what's that trickle?' Cabbie, 'Heavens! My radiator has burst!

Popular culture

The public house England's Glory in London Road, Gloucester, is named after the matches. The song " Senses Working Overtime" by

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

contains the spoken phrases "England's Glory" and "A striking beauty", the latter being a slogan associated with "England's Glory" matches. The Macc Lads wrote a song called "England's Glory" referring to the matches. The Welsh band

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

took the lyric "It only takes one tree to make a thousand matches but only takes one match to burn a thousand trees" for their hit song " A Thousand Trees" from the back of a box of England's Glory matches. Various re-issues of English pub-rock performer

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

's 1977 album '' New Boots and Panties'' contain a live version of his composition "England's Glory".

Namesake

On 7 November 1881, the ship ''England's Glory'' was wrecked off

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

, by getting too close in while waiting the arrival of the pilot. (See

List of shipwrecks of Oceania This is a list of shipwrecks located in the region of Oceania. Australia Melanesia Fiji New Caledonia Norfolk Island Papua New Guinea Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia Guam Kiribati Marshall Isl ...

References

{{reflist Matches