Tin Tabernacles reimagined
In my childhood, in a little Cornish village, the village hall was known as the Tin Tabernacle. A small building with a porch, it was made of corrugated iron and sat in a nest of brambles near the phone box. I went there to yoga lessons with my mum, and other people’s birthday parties. I think I remember winding my arm round and round with everyone else to Nellie The Elephant at a school disco there aged around 8.
Church Hall, Wood Green, London
A new village hall got built eventually, as the brambles broke in at the windows of the Tin Tabernacle, and today it is demolished. It was one of hundreds of such buildings across the country and around the world. The Tin Tabernacle was invented during the industrial revolution, as industrialization, especially mining, created new communities in the UK, and sent people to new territories overseas. What did both of these type of places need to keep them on the straight and narrow? A cheap-to-build, easy-to-transport church, of course.
St Mary’s Church, Cadgwith, Cornwall
Rural mining communities, which could be found across Wales, Cornwall and of course Australia, seemed to be a very common site for the Tin Tabernacle. They became so common that ole’ useful/beautiful himself, William Morris, wrote a pamphlet in 1890 decrying the construction of corrugated iron buildings “that were spreading like a pestilence over the country.”
Little Pink Church, Linwood, Lincolnshire
Not anymore, as many have fallen into disrepair or been taken down. The wikipedia page about these buildings has a useful photographic index of ‘tabs still standing, and they display the range of decoration, from pretty, to pompous to practical, that these buildings were given. These buildings have also inspired a couple based in Cornwall to put the simple idea to new use.
Love Lane Caravans
Love Lane Caravans design and build caravans based on the Tin Tabernacles, this time intended to use by festival-loving, home-working free spirits of the 21st century. Have a look at their website to look at the gorgeous interiors too – nothing like I remember.
I love what Love Lane Caravans have done with them, what a fab place to stay in : )
how gorgeous these are !
wouldn’t it be nice is a rich person could order loads, then pitch them on a beautiful site and rent them out…… i would definitely ditch my tent for one of these !!!
🙂
I wish I’d taken a photo of our Tin Tabernacle before it was demolished. There’s a two story house on the site now. How much more interesting it would have been to convert the building into a holiday home like the Love Lane caravans.
I’m involved with a Wartime camp & we would just love to save/salvage an Old Tabernacle so if any comes across one that is threatened with demolition then please let me know. For more info please visit our site http://www.ashdowncamp.webs.com A unique replica camp with 11 nissen huts, air raid shelters & watchtower etc.