Corrugated Iron: A Personal InterestCorrugated Iron: A Personal Interest
Ned Williams
This is an account of my own individual and personal interest in corrugated iron buildings. I have little knowledge of architecture and almost as little knowledge about the manufacture of corrugated iron, but something has always fascinated about the material and the buildings that exploit its possibilities. I was delighted to find that there was a web site where people could share such an interest.
Like many corrugated iron enthusiasts, I guess I have been particularly drawn to railway buildings, tin chapels, and to the use of corrugated iron in house-construction, but nowadays I would always stop to have look at corrugated iron in anything from cricket pavilions to industrial buildings.
In the railway world I was attracted to GWR's corrugated iron pagoda as almost the quintessential British railway branch line building. If you need an introduction to the subject of GWR corrugated iron pagodas, look at pages 188 - 193 of Adrian Vaughan's "A Pictorial Record of Great Western Architecture" published by Oxford Publishing Co. in1977. A good selection of photos is followed by a scale drawing of the pagoda. From the mid 1900s onwards these buildings were used as waiting shelters on a new generation of "halts" (un-manned stations) opened on branch lines where traffic was likely to be light. As far as I know, several manufacturers supplied the GWR with the kits to build these buildings, and therefore there maybe subtle variations in them. They were also used throughout the GWR system and this probably produced regional variations. Lamp huts, goods sheds and other buildings were erected in a matching style. (For example - see the "cycle shed" provided at Fairford Station illustrated and drawn on page 35 of "Great Western Branch Line Termini Vol. 1" by Paul Karau, OPC 1977. Tetbury's Lamp store is dealt with in the same book on page 77.)
Obviously it was not just the GWR that used corrugated iron in railway architecture. A number of minor railway companies exploited corrugated iron because they were built on such modest budgets. Two lines worth looking at would be the Mid Suffolk Light Railway, and the Tanat Valley Railway. The Mid Suffolk company's stations made really elegant use of corrugated iron - all well illustrated in "The Mid Suffolk Light Railway" by Peter Paye. (Wild Swan Publications, 1986.) Some of these have now benefited from enthusiastic preservation. A few are collected together at the site of Brockford Station on the route of the one-time Mid Suffolk Railway. (All illustrated in colour in the April 03 edition of "Steam Railway" magazine.) One has been moved to Mangapps Farm near Southend in Essex.. (Well worth a visit!)
The Tanat Valley Railway's corrugated iron buildings were also quite distinctive. The buildings included station buildings, goods sheds and the engine shed at the Llangynog terminus of the line. (See "The Tanat Valley Railway" by Mike Lloyd, Wild Swan Publications, 1990.) The style of the buildings bears a resemblance to the use of corrugated iron on the neighbouring Cambrian Railway system.
One of the most interesting users of corrugated iron was Col. H. F. Stephens who was a railway engineer who specialised in building minimum cost railways that could be run on a proverbial shoestring. No corrugated iron enthusiast can afford to ignore the work of Col. Stephens, who now has his own fan club "The Col. Stephens Society" which has its own web site: www.colonelstephenssociety.org.uk.
Col Stephen's use of corrugated iron was developed while building the railway from Paddock wood to Hawkhurst in Kent. The buildings were constructed by a Kentish firm and the story of who contributed what to their design is discussed in detail in Brian Hart's book, "The Hawkhurst Branch" (Wild Swan Publications, 2000). The Colonel went on to sublime use of corrugated iron on the Kent & East Sussex Railway and the Hundred of Manhood & Selsey Tramway. Bodiam station on the KESR has been beautifully preserved, and the termini of the Selsey Tramway at Selsey and Chichester must rank among Britain's finest corrugated iron stations, even though remarkably "modest". Good pictures of the Selsey Tramway's buildings can be found in "Branch Line to Selsey" by Messrs Mitchell & Smith. (Middleton Press, 1983.)
I have lived in the Black Country for the last forty years - once an iron-making and metal bashing industrialised area of South Staffordshire and North Worcestershire. Some local ironworks specialised in producing sheets of iron and some of these then corrugated and galvanised the sheets of iron for sale as a building material. I am ashamed to say I have not looked into this, although I do have few advertisements and so on that would interest corrugated iron enthusiasts. When I arrived in the 1960s there were still many industrial buildings clad in corrugated iron, but these have gradually disappeared as the area has been de-industrialsied and modernised. There are still some delightful old sheds and workshops to be seen, and I have photographed some of these, but I have not been "focussed" in only looking at corrugated iron structures.
In recent years I have become more interested on corrugated iron buildings in general, and have become very interested in chapels. There are still a few in the Black Country, and I am now much more systematic about photographing them. Less than a mile from my home there is a "tin tabernacle" still regularly used by an Italian Pentacostal congregation, and last summer I photographed both the chapel and its congregation - inside and outside the building. They have a great affection for their iron building and were interested to meet an enthusiast - but they are planning to demolish it and replace it!
Another such building exists in Blackheath, and is now used as an Age Concern Day Centre. I organised a class outing for a local WEA group there last summer and we were allowed to make a close examination of the building. It has a new "interior" - hiding much of its tin chapel characteristics. We also visited an abandoned iron chapel at a place called Brades Village, between Oldbury and Tipton. A few weeks later the building was demolished and "disappeared overnight". This made my WEA class very conscious of the "endangered species" nature of these buildings, and they now travel around with eyes wide open ready to spot survivors and exchange information. One class member went on holiday to Pembrokeshire and must have sent her family potty with her new obsession with corrugated iron! The highlight of her holiday was visiting the corrugated iron pub at Rosebush. Another class member visited the lovely iron church at Measbury (Near Oswestry), and inspired me to go and see it and meet its congregation. Someone else sent me off to see the chapel at Draycott-in-the-Clay, near Uttoxeter, and that is another beautiful survivor of the genre.
The tin chapel enthusiast is now well served in museums and the examples I know of are to be found at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum at Blists Hill, the Avncroft Buildings Museum at Bromsgrove, and the Midland Railway Museum at Butterley. I believe there may be others
Certainly, on my travels I am now always on the look-out for tin chapels and other iron buildings. I know of a good chapel at Thrupp, near Stroud, and I have heard whispers about one at Sherbourne, and so the search goes on In the Black Country there used to be a marvellous iron cricket club pavilion at a place called Netherton - it had a pagoda roof and neat spire - but it has recently been shrouded in new brickwork! In Ireland I came across a wonderful corrugated iron two storey house called "The Ashford Tavern". We were on the way to Abbeyfeole at the time, but I'm not sure now where to find the house! The building reminded me of pictures I have seen of iron houses in East Anglia.
Another remarkable survivor, although well hidden, is the corrugated iron station building at Listowel (see picture top left) - once the terminus of a very eccentric monorail line that ran from there to Ballybunion. The line is now being re-created as a tourist destination, but the real original station building is tucked away in obscurity a few hundred yards away from the present developments. It has a strange reverse-curved roof that makes it an iron masterpiece! Another good Irish corrugated iron railway building has been preserved at Clonakilty in County Cork.
One advantage of being a WEA tutor is that students bring in all sorts of treasure. Last year one student found a catalogue produced by William Cooper Ltd. of the Old Kent Road, S.E. London. This catalogue lists and illustrates and huge variety of corrugated iron buildings that can be erected from their kits. I will endeavour to retrieve this gem so that more information about it can be put on this site. It is an excellent guide to the world of such building kits, how they worked, how much they cost, and the variety of designs available.
Like all corrugated iron fans I am very inspired by the use of the material in Australia, and have looked at many wonderful iron buildings on a couple of visits. One of my favourite experiences was the discovery of a surviving iron cinema at Brentwood in New South Wales rejoicing in the name "National Film Theatre"! The local community is restoring the place as a multi-media community facility. It also makes use of pressed tin sheeting - an Aussie variation on corrugated iron. My interest in British cinemas has led me to research many iron cinemas in Britain but I do not know of any surviving examples. People always recall the sound of the rain on the roof drowning the sound of the film's soundtrack or accompaniment.
A final thought to share with whoever is reading this, is to consider the business of building models of corrugated iron buildings. I have done this in various scales and the models have always created a lot of interest. It is possible to purchase kits to build GWR corrugated iron pagodas - in white metal and in plastic in 4mm scale, and in resin in 7mm scale. In 7mm scale it is also possible to purchase a kit to build a reasonable goods shed that can be converted to grain store, pavilion, etc Several people produce corrugated iron sheets in a variety of scales with which you can build your own buildings. I can supply more information about this is there is demand.
I am interested to hear about surviving corrugated iron buildings and to correspond with like-minded enthusiasts.
Ned Williams.
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