BCD SPECIAL REPORT ON HISTORIC CHURCHES 32nd ANNUAL EDITION 11 a single manual 54-key pipe organ with a gothically decorated casing. While the pulpit and lectern appear newer, the Glastonbury chair is period. Vestiges of old electrics are evident. In Buckinghamshire, the Chiltern Open Air Museum reconstructed the steeply roofed church from Henton, Oxfordshire. Its scissor trusses are braced with iron brackets that emulate corbels, and span a space that is only 3.8 m wide. The west door is a fine example of Victorian design with opposing upper and lower boarding chevrons forming a lozenge. Exceptionally, one door has an escutcheon from the manufacturer, Boulton and Paul. With a similarly steep roof, the unlisted church at Alhampton, Wiltshire has many interior details typical of tin tabernacles. Again, with cross-design hopper windows and scissor trusses, the walls are painted white, giving a bright feel to the small space. The altar, below a tripartite window, sits on a full-width dais with a simple two-part altar rail to its edge, the gap being somewhat narrower than the length of the altar table. Individual chairs and liturgical furniture are more recent additions. Gothic-headed framed doors with diagonal planks provide access to the porch, nave and vestry, all good examples of Victorian design. Despite their radical form and construction, the interiors of tin tabernacles were generally typical of their time and have much in common with other Victorian churches and chapels. The contribution of interiors to significance has been understated. There is much work to be continued to identify, catalogue, record and evaluate the wealth of ecclesiastical, social and technological history that is bound up in these buildings. Further reading Carron, J, Tin tabernacles and other corrugated iron buildings in Scotland, Amenta Publications, 2017 Carron, J, Abandoned tin tabernacles, houses and huts, Amenta Publications, 2023 Induni, L, www.buildingconservation. com/articles/tin-tabernacles/ tin-tabernacles, 2002 Smith, I, Tin tabernacles: Corrugated iron mission halls, churches & chapels of Britain, Camrose Organisation, 2004 Smith, I, Tin tabernacles postcard album, Camrose Press, 2011 MICHAEL KING has had a keen amateur interest in old buildings for several decades, playing a role in saving some. He recently completed his MSc in Building Conservation at the Weald & Downland Living Museum and is continuing research into tin tabernacles. Contact michael@hill-king.com Bringsty east end.jpg Relocated from Henton, Oxfordshire, this steeply roofed church has been reconstructed at the Chiltern Open Air Museum. The painted white walls in this unlisted church at Alhampton, Wiltshire, give a bright feel to the small space. The interior of Bringsty tin tabernacle, Herefordshire which was relocated to the Avoncroft open air museum and carefully restored
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzI0Mzk=