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Temporary churches, prefabricated churches, tin tabernacles, iron churches, iron chapels

Changing the subject, there was a tin chapel called St Ethelreda's Mission Church in Moor End Lane, Erdington. It was opened just prior to the first world war, and, as a child, I vaguely remember it prior to demolition in the 1950s. The site remained vacant for many years until a modern house was built.
 
We've had a couple of suggestions from our members but have discounted these. I wondered if it was a chapel shown at the corner of Louise Road/Victoria Road on the 1913 OS map, but the angle's wrong and the building facing it in the distance looks too far away. I forwarded it to Midland Ancestors and they could put it in their next issue (December) but asked if it was OK to publish and whether it's possible to have a higher resolution copy. I found a very similar building online but unfortunately it was in Alabama!
 
Thanks - we had that suggestion as well. We discounted that chapel in post 28. As you say orientation to road is wrong.
We did wonder if it was just a photo of one of the firm's chapels as it had their name on it. The word Handsworth just as a reference that they had built similar churches there.
 
There was a tin tabernacle on Rookery Road Handsworth before the Methodist Church at 321 Rookery Road was built. I'm not sure if the tabernacle is the building alongside, to the right, shown in this c1920s photo or if this was a later schoolroom, but that smaller building is no longer there today.

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Thank you Vivienne, I haven't got access to our folder on the Rookery Road church at the moment, so can't remember if I've seen a similar photo before. There's a similar building to the Hope Family Church near the junction of Trinity Road/Witton Lane that I pass frequently and is still in use. We gave up trying to find the location of the mystery Handsworth church but thanks everyone for your efforts!
 
Seems to have started as St. James Mission Room as shown by Janice. Likely built around 1900-1910 and possibly served as an outpost for the C of E Church of St. James in Frederick Road.
 
This iron building (c1906) on Boldmere Road was erected before the Chester Road Baptist Church was built at the junction of Chester Road and Boldmere Road. Building of the church commenced in 1912, in the style of English Gothic.

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I am trying to research the history of the green hall next to St Mary and St Ambrose Church /Rea Church on the Pershore Road. I know it used to belong to St Agnes whilst their building was being built and was sold to Rev Cresswell Strange in 1885 for £150! It was used whilst St Mary & St Ambrose was being built and is now our church hall. It has wooden sides and a tin roof.
I would love to know how they transported it from Oxford Road to the Pershore Road and if there are any newspaper articles about it being moved?
It would be great to find a catalogue and supplier for it. I’m not sure how to find these things out.... thanks
 

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hi and welcome..thats a very good question and hopefully someone who is subscribed to the online british newspaper archives will kindly take a look for you...have you read this thread from post 1 as i think this building has been mentioned i also wonder if we have a photo of it when it was in oxford road

lyn
 
Vivienne14 said:
There's this one on Aldridge Road, Streetly, now used as business premises. An unexpected location for a tin tabernacle - the nearby housing and other buildings are relatively modern so it would have once been pretty isolated in a rural setting.
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If you look at the 1912 map of Streetly, this was originally a school for the children of the workers in the ammunition factory over the road (Aldridge Road). The old cottages on Aldridge Road today facing the 'school' were the original cottages for some of the ammunition workers. It's also interesting to note that the nearby test range is located on the map (behind Farmer John's pub)


Aldridge Road, Streetly, Ammunition Factory 1912.jpg
 
Astoness said:
hi and welcome..thats a very good question and hopefully someone who is subscribed to the online british newspaper archives will kindly take a look for you...have you read this thread from post 1 as i think this building has been mentioned i also wonder if we have a photo of it when it was in oxford road

lyn
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Yes I was very excited to find this blog and have seen the photo from c 1880, its great! Thanks. Do you think they were all called ‘Tin Tabernacles’ even if they had wooden walls?
 
I did a bit of research on this locality around forty years ago. Isolation was needed because if there was an explosion at the ammunition factory, deaths and casualties would be limited because of the site's location in an isolated rural location.
 
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