Tin Tabernacle at Puttenham, Hertfordshire

Image: © Gerald Massey Taken: 9 Apr 2008

Corrugated iron was developed by 1829 and the process of coating the iron with zinc (galvanizing) was patented in 1837, thus greatly increasing the life of corrugated iron sheets. Manufacturers began producing it for the construction of prefabricated buildings, since the material was light, strong and easy to cut into sheets, and by the late 19th century a number of manufacturers offered mass-produced corrugated iron buildings in kit form - such as churches, chapels and school houses - and these could be bought from a catalogue. A kit would comprise a prefabricated timber frame, usually erected on a brick foundation. The roof and walls were clad on the outside with corrugated sheets and on the inside with good quality tongue and groove boarding, usually with a sheet of felt between the wood and iron. The Parish Room (or Mission Hall) at Puttenham is situated on land adjoining the garden of “Paston Cottage”. It is constructed of wood and corrugated iron with a pitched roof. It consists of one main room with brick fireplace, a small lobby-type room off, and an even smaller lobby leading off that. There is also an outside storage area attached. The building started its life on the Pendley Estate, Tring Image, owned by Joseph Williams of Pendley Manor, and appears to have been replaced around 1902 with the building that is there today Image Mr. Williams was a great benefactor of Puttenham and made the village a gift of the building, together with a parcel of land with an area of approximately 10 poles. An Indenture was made in 1917 to legalise this transfer, and making the Parish Vicar and the two Churchwardens (and their successors) Trustees of the building and land. Its original sitting on the Pendley Estate was near to Tring Station and it was arranged that two Puttenham farmers, Thomas Chapman of Grange Farm and Mr. Deverell of Potash Farm should take a horse-drawn dung cart into Tring and collect the building. Having been erected on its new site, the hut played a considerable part in Village life. It provided a home for the village Men’s Club, local dances (with tales of the floor having to be watered to keep down the dust), and in 1931 the Churchwarden of that time, Miss Edith Chapman, held the first Puttenham Jumble Sale in the hut, raising the grand figure of £3.13s.9d! In the summer of 1935 the Hall was used for a grand party to celebrate the Golden Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Turner of The Old Rectory, who were prominent residents and landowners of that time. During the second World War, the Hall became the temporary local school after the Long Marston School was bombed and continued in this way until 1952 when it remained closed until 1967. Much work was done to bring the Hall back into use; the clearance of a fox’s earth, the wilderness of overgrown weeds was hacked down, acrows were used to make it safe, electricity was re-connected and the first Puttenham Harvest Supper was held there. There was no sanitation and no running water, but people squeezed in, elbow to elbow. The old Hall had an atmosphere all of its own. The Jumble Sales and Harvest Suppers continued until 1991 when, with the opening of the new Cecilia Hall sited close to the Church, the old Parish Room became empty again, and it’s future somewhat uncertain. See also . . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

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