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”.

RISEAND FALL

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.

LEGACY

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.

CONCLUSIONS

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.

FOOTNOTE

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

1855.

Iron palace for King Eyambo, Africa. From The

Builder, 1843.

CONTEXT 44