James Carron

Tin Tabernacles and other Corrugated Iron Buildings in Scotland James Carron

Corrugated iron is a common sight in industrial and agricultural buildings. Less common are the tin tabernacles, mission halls, hospitals, schools, houses and cottages constructed during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Derided by some, overlooked by others, those that remain standing to this day are legacy to a branch of architecture that dared to be different. Born of necessity, this black sheep of the building trade matured into a distinctive and delightful character of both the rural and urban landscape. Charting the history of corrugated iron as a construction material from its earliest days in the 1830s through to the Second World War, this book explores the once thriving market for kit-built kirks, ready to assemble reading rooms and off-the-shelf schools that sprung up across Scotland, often in some of the most remote and far flung corners of the country. Inexpensive to erect and frequently regarded as a temporary fix, many of these quirky little buildings remain standing and in use to this day.