Paul Dadson enthuses

structures in his catalogue of the mid 1850s. The British Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 was a popular venue for manufacturers of prefabricated buildings to display their products. Young’s exhibit was the Kensington Gore Museum. In 1855 Hemming erected the first temporary church in iron in London in the grounds of the vicarage at Kensington. The report in The Builder was politely critical:

“the whole of the building is externally of corrugated galvanised iron. It would not be difficult on a future occasion to give a more ecclesiastical character to such a structure externally”.

By the 1880s the corrugated iron industry had expanded considerably and corrugated iron buildings including some unusual examples had become a common sight in this country. Inevitably, the public response was much more subdued and reports in the press became few and far between. In the decade 1880 to 1890 the industry was probably at its peak in terms of output. The range of buildings produced during these years is prodigious. By the turn of the century the demand for corrugated iron portable buildings was diminishing both at home and abroad. But at home this was accounted for in the slowing of the process of urbanisation, while abroad the demand was primarily for corrugated iron sheets. The portable buildings industry had become conservative and even regressive. The building forms were more simple and eventually became even brutally utilitarian and devoid of decoration. The demise in the popularity of corrugated iron can in part be attributed to the problems of climatic control, especially in hot countries. This is something which had dogged the prefabricated buildings from the earliest years. It is also very likely that the poor quality of some corrugated iron sheets associated with the metal and the galvanising process — leading to its more rapid corrosion — was another key reason for the disenchantment with the material in the late 19th century.

The poor image of corrugated iron buildings in the United Kingdom has much to do with its decline in evidence in this country. It was a ‘Cinderella’ material in the 19th century and still remains so today. The British climate is not conducive to its longevity. Nevertheless, there are many examples of corrugated iron prefabricated buildings which are still in good condition 100 years or so after they were first erected. The key to its

preservation is maintenance.

There are more corrugated iron chapels and mission halls surviving in Britain than any other of the prefabricated building types. The Dutch barn with its curved corrugated iron roof shape has survived well in the rural landscape. It has proved to be a most practical versatile building and is easily adapted to the modern farming requirements providing good cover for machinery, animals or hay. Its curved roof form and usually dark colouring somehow seem to blend harmoniously with the fall of the landscape. There are some particularly significant examples of corrugated iron buildings in the Royal Dockyards. The Boat Store built in 1858 at Sheerness and the covered slips at Chatham (1847-1855) are particularly important examples. The First World War saw a resurgence in the use of corrugated iron buildings. These were generally utilitarian structures with no architectural pretence.

One building type which epitomises the military use of the material is the Nissen Hut invented by Lt Col P N Nissen. The use of corrugated iron for roofing of railway stations was common place in the 19th century, but there are also many individual railway buildings clad in corrugated iron.

The improvised use of corrugated iron as a temporary expedient has discredited its aesthetic value and its undeniable importance in 19th century building history.

There is surely a good case for the conservation of the better examples. The disturbing thing is that the good examples of corrugated iron buildings are still being lost along with the inconsequential and there seems to be a lack of appreciation and discernment of what is worthy of conservation and what is not.

An anecdotal and practical conservation issue — in the course of preparing a specification recently for repairs to the mediaeval market cross in Cheddar, I found that, amazingly, the roof covering was corrugated iron, and not lead as had previously been assumed! This roof covering had been fixed there around 1880. It is in sound condition and it is proposed to retain it and treat it with bituminous paint and not replace it with the (albeit more historically accurate) lead covering.

Paul Dadson is the Principal Conservation Officer in the Architectural d Historic Heritage Group at Somerset County Council.

Customs House, Payta, Peru. From The Civil Engineer and Architects Journal, 1854.

Tempora7y church at The Vicarage, Kensington. by

Samuel Hemming. From The Builder, 27 October

Iron palace for King Eyambo, Africa. From The Builder, 1843.