Flat Pack Churches

“You can buy anything from Harrod’s", so it was once said. You could certainly buy a church, or at least a Tin Tabernacle as these prefabricated, corrugated iron buildings came to be called. The parish church at Maesbury in Shropshire, illustrated here by Maggie Humphrys, was one such structure. Supplied by the Knightsbridge store in 1906, for just £120, it was delivered on the back of a lorry and assembled by two men.

Harrod’s catalogue offered a range of "flat-pack" buildings,; they were just one of a number of companies to supply them.

The technique of producing corrugated iron and galvanising with zinc to prevent corrosion was developed in the mid 19^th century. A range of buildings was available including churches, sports pavilions, village halls, railway structures, warehouses and even a diminutive shepherd’s hut. The town of Oban, in Scotland had a Roman Catholic cathedral built of corrugated tin until it was replaced in 1932 with a stone building designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

This was a time of rapid growth in urban populations and led in turn to a demand for new places of worship. The availability of pre-fabricated churches and chapels was able to quickly fill this need. These structures were manufactured in their thousands, not only for the home market, but also for export, mostly to the colonies.

These churches and chapels were usually painted externally in bright colours; the interior walls being lined with good quality tongued and grooved boards of pine. They were generally finished to a high standard.

Although the tin tabernacle was seen as a temporary measure, many have survived and a few remain in use as places of worship. Others have found new uses, some having become homes. One fine example is St. Philip’s at Hassall Green near Sandbach, Cheshire. It dates from the early 1880s and was originally sited in Alsager. It was sold for £150 in 1894 and moved to the present site. It is still used for regular services and is described as being painted “candyfloss pink”.

We have had several examples in this locality. The Bridgemont Mission started life in a boat builder’s workshop before moving to a tin tabernacle on a permanent site. It was replaced in 1933 by the present stone building. The photograph below, dated 1919, has been digitally colourised.

Seen inside the Mission is the Minister, Mr. Downes, who was known as “The Rough Diamond”

Whaley Bridge still has its tin tabernacle, hidden away behind the School Garage. Holy Trinity Church, a little farther along Buxton Road was built in 1903 to replace this temporary structure. The building then became the Whaley Bridge Tea Rooms (or Derby Tea Rooms, named after its owner Mr. Robert Derby) and is seen in the colourised picture below. It is now used as a workshop.

 

Two further photographs of the tea rooms courtesy of Tony Beswick

Another location is at Higher Disley where the former Methodist Chapel has become a children’s nursery. To the rear is a little pre-fabricated building, perhaps used in the past as a church hall.

If you wish discover more about these delightful little buildings, an internet search will direct you to a number of interesting websites and numerous photographs. The Wikipedia article offers an extensive, illustrated list of many locations, past and present.

Father Jamie Macleod of Whaley Hall has written about the "Pink Church" at Hassall Green. He has a personal interest for it was his grandparents who paid for it to be re-roofed.  It was constructed because  building work on the original church was abandoned when its benefactor, Mr Lowndes died. Although almost finished, no further work was carried out.

I have since learned of another fine example, St Paul's at Strines which was built in 1880 by the owners of Strines Print Works,

St Paul's Strines

Tony Beswick has been out and about and has photographed a mission church that will be familiar to many people. The chapel at Cockyard sits in the middle of the car park at the Hanging Gate Pub. Although now out of use, it is not so long since it still had a monthly Sunday Service. This is not to the standard "off the shelf" design of most tin tabernacles so it was perhaps built by a local contractor.

Tony also called at St John's at Adlington. In his professional capacity, he had replaced the floor some years ago and the building is well maintained and still in regular use.

Just outside of Dove Holes was a small community called Higher Bibbington. Here was a row of 19th century cottages, one of which doubled for a while as a prayer room. Eventually the local Methodists found funds to build themselves a tin tabernacle. Not a stylish structure from Harrods but it will have served its purpose. It was later replaced by a stone built chapel which still stands on Longridge Lane and is now used as a private house.