Category Archives: church

Llanddewi Skirrid Hall

For once, rather than public transport, had to resort to a taxi (which is sort of public transport) to reach Llanddewi Skirrid Hall, several miles up into the hills near Abergavenny. And just as I arrived, the local postie turned up to empty the little post box, so we had a chat about the hall. It looks very church-like and gothic, and it did indeed start life as a church for workers (and their families) building a nearby reservoir, before being moved to its current site about 1885, eventually becoming the village hall. Manufacturer unknown. It was my first trip to Abergavenny – where there is another iron church (by Morton’s of Liverpool), albeit with cladding replaced by wood – and the town turned out to be a rather lovely, foodie place, and with a nice caff at the railway station, always appreciated.

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Filed under church, iron, village hall, Wales

A pink corrugated iron church

Hidden in the depths of Cheshire’s countryside, yet only 100m or so from the M6, is a surprise, a bright pink iron church, St Philip, Hassall Green. Built in 1883 by Dixon’s of Liverpool (and probably white originally), it is a typical product of Britain’s portable building industry towards the end of the 19th century. It is also one of many iron churches, wooden village halls and other similar buildings I’ve visited over the last few years while researching my forthcoming (hopefully, peer review awaits) book on the portable building industry. Details: Lynn Pearson, Tin Tabernacles and Cosy Cottages: A History of the Portable Building Industry in Britain, 1850s-1930s, Liverpool University Press for Historic England, expected 2027/8. See https://www.lynnpearson.info/ for more details. I hope this little blog will show some of the illustrations that I couldn’t squeeze into the book – which has 200!

Copyright: All text on this blog, unless credited otherwise, is copyright Lynn Pearson 2026-7. All pictures on this blog, unless credited otherwise, were taken by the author or are from the author’s personal collection, and are copyright Lynn Pearson 2026-7.

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Filed under Cheshire, church, iron