General Description and Characteristics

The brick foundation walls that serve to level the site of this single-storey, corrugated iron sheet building, vary in their number of courses from two on the south elevation, to sixteen on the north; the top course is formed of headers.

The south gable, east and west walls are constructed from two vertical rows of corrugated iron sheeting fastened with dome-headed galvanised iron nails, occasionally used with washers or roves. There is evidence of the use of a set pattern of fastenings throughout the original building. This comprises nails driven through the ridges of each sheet in a 3-3-2 pattern, though this has by no means been uniformly applied and there is a significant degree of random fastening.

The original roof is also constructed from two rows of corrugated iron sheeting on each side, with evidence of a mineral felt lining beneath. The ridge is covered by pre-shaped corrugated sections, overlapping north over south, probably to prevent rain from the prevalent northerly winter winds driving under the sheets. The pent roof over the later extension appears to have been renewed relatively recently with modern steel sheeting.

A small porch on the south elevation forms the main entrance to the church, with a side-door towards the rear of the building in the eastern wall. A later rear extension, also of corrugated iron sheet construction, on the north elevation has completely destroyed the lower elements of the original north gable wall, with only a small area of the upper gable still extant; it is likely that this original gable wall was similarly constructed.

There are a total of fourteen windows, all wooden framed; eleven are of identical, equilateral-arch design (Fig.3) and are contemporary with the original building. The remaining three windows are located in the later extension; all are rectangular with two being of identical design.


 

Left: Fig.2. One of the eleven equilateral-arch windows


Above: Fig.3. Building ground plan 

The unicameral interior (Fig.3), is subdivided by two folding wooden screens to form three separate areas, the larger forming the main church area including an almost full-width raised stage or dias; a Prayer room (currently used as seating/kitchen area), is located at the rear of the building, separated from the main church by the Bible Study area which is currently used for storage. 

All rooms, with the exception of a small concrete area immediately inside the porch entrance, are floorboarded and are either carpeted or covered with linoleum, thereby preventing access to the boards themselves. Nevertheless, it is probable that the boards in the main church and Bible Study rooms are of the same dimensions as those visible in the porch i.e. tongue & grooved boards 4" wide (115mm); the floorboarding of the Prayer room is likely to be similar, though contemporary with its construction.

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