The Lucifer Match Factory was the first factory to commercially produce Lucifer matches in this country. Ezekiel Byam established the factory in South Chelmsford in 1835. The Lucifer match was ignited by drawing it through a piece of bent sandpaper- this replaced the flint and tinder method of lighting fires. The flint and tinder method involved striking the hard edge of the flint rock against iron pyrite rocks or high carbon steel. The original factory was once on Robin Hill Road, and there is now a monument where it stood (the Byam Match Factory Monument).