P. G. Oxley Ltd Celebrates 150 Years of Service

For over 150 years, P. G. Oxley Ltd Builders and Funeral Directors in Walton-on-the-Naze and Frinton-on-Sea have provided a valued service.

Our family-run business - now in its sixth generation - all started back in 1857 with Phillip Oxley and his son Phillip George. They decided to leave their jobs as pattern makers and Phillip realised his ambition of being the village carpenter.

Phillip George had leanings towards the building trade, but worked with his father, making amongst other things, coffins. Phillip George became more active in the building side of things and when his father died, Phillip George amalgamated the operations of the firm, under the heading of P. G. Oxley, Builders and Undertakers.

Phillip George had two sons - Albert and Willie - and in 1927 Willie, took over the running of the firm.

A further generation was introduced into the firm in 1934 - Robert, the second son of Albert.

P. G. Oxley became a limited company in 1957 when Robert became a director along with Willie and his wife Marie.

When Willie died in 1960, Robert took the helm, to be joined later by his son Phillip and eldest daughter Julie Lewarne, to work closely with Phillip on the funeral side.

In 1979 P. G. Oxley Ltd acquired W. Green and Sons in Frinton-on-Sea.

In 1968 the control of the company passed to Phillip as Managing Director, Julie as Company Secretary and Robert as Chairman. Sadly in March 2008 Robert passed away after over 70 years in the company.

The sixth generation of the family working in the business is Phillip’s youngest son Bruce – who joined the company in 1991 and, like his predecessors, started by learning a trade and working on the building side.

Bruce, now a Director of the company, chose to concentrate his efforts on expanding the building side of the business. Working closely with his cousin Robert Lewarne in the office and having put together an exemplary team of operatives who work alongside a group of long-established sub-contractors on site, the building side of the company continues to grow.

As well as a funeral office in Frinton-on-Sea, we now have a newly refurbished office (43 High Street) alongside our existing premises in Walton-on-the-Naze that is dedicated to the funeral side of the business. The building side of the business now solely uses our existing offices at the rear of No. 47 High Street.