Types of Building

Of the 65 buildings, 55 were churches and chapels (and associated halls), five schools, three institutes or miners' union halls, and two theatres. Corrugated iron buildings were durable, fairly easy to erect, and, if necessary, they could be dismantled and re-erected elsewhere. They were also comparatively cheap. Basic buildings to seat 150 to 200 people cost around £200. For those accommodating 200 to 250, the cost rose from £230 to £250. At New Silksworth, where there were 800 worshippers, the cost was equivalent to £1 per head. The large, elaborate parish hall at Greenside colliery cost £1,000 in 1906.

Only a small number of specialist builders have been identified. The plans for the Oxhill and East Stanley missions, and a classroom and gymnasium for Preston-on-Tees church were produced by William Harbrow of South Bermondsey, in London. Harbrow described himself as a 'Builder and contractor of iron, wood or composite churches, schools' etc. The firm had a branch in South Africa by 1902, and a world-wide delivery service. The iron and woodwork for St David's, Tudhoe, was produced by Hemming & Co. of London 1880 for £403-18-0 (7). The contractors for West Pelton Church, in 1877, were Messrs Francis Morton & Co. of Liverpool. The parish hall designs for Meadowfield were the work of F.D. Cowieson & Co., 'Designers of composite buildings and structural engineers', based at St Rollox, in Glasgow. In some cases, however, the elements of a building were erected by the purchasers.

The majority of the iron-clad buildings located were for religious use. By the late 19th century the religious groups in the county included Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers (particularly in Darlington), Salvationists, Plymouth Brethren, Jews (in Sunderland and Hartlepool), and Moravians. Of the 65 buildings with corrugated iron cladding, 21 were built by the Church of England (with six associated institutes, halls, and classrooms); five by the Catholics, 15 by the Methodists, two by the Baptists, one by the Congregationalists, and one by the Plymouth Brethren. A re-sited building at West Rainton may have been Methodist.

The Church of England found that its existing churches in County Durham, and the number of ministers in the old parishes, were inadequate in location and number to cope with the increase in population, particularly in the mining areas. In many cases, mining villages were being established in outlying areas of existing parishes. In 1851 there were 169 Anglican churches compared with 351 Methodist Chapels in the county (8). Thirty-six of the 41 parishes in the Durham diocese had an average of one church for 7,800 people, and one clergyman for 5,000 (9). When Archdeacon Thorpe of Durham was asked by a Select Committee of the House of Lords 'then the dissenters, receiving no assistance of any kind, are able to find for themselves sufficient means of spiritual instruction, while the established church, having large means at her disposal is totally unable to provide for itself', he had to admit 'It seems so' (10). The situation was considered to be due to the Diocese of Durham being unable to dispose of its own revenues to improve conditions, due to the control of funds by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. However, this situation was altered by the provisions of the 1860 Act 23 and 24 Vict. c. 124, and increasingly new parishes were created. Their formation required an Order in Council, and for mission churches, divine services would be performed by the minister, or a curate, from the mother church, under a bishop's licence. Application could be made to the Diocesan Church Building Society for financial aid.

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