The Tin Tabernacle

General information

THE HISTORY
19th September 1893 - St Michael's built by the local population from 'flat pack'
Erected on a triangular site at the junction of Stade Street and Portland Road and adjacent to the Town Bridge, it cannot escape the notice of the passer-by. Lovingly referred to as the ‘tin tabernacle’ (or ‘Tin Tab’) because of its timber frame and corrugated iron construction, it is one of the few survivors of ‘temporary’ or prefabricated buildings erected at the end of the Victorian era.
At this time Hythe was developing fast; many hundreds of houses were built on the sea side of the Royal Military Canal – Victoria Road, Albert Road, Ormonde Road, Park Road – to which working class families were attracted to move because of their modest cost (most of them were let on weekly tenancies rather than purchases). The Church saw a need to provide services for this influx and, for a time, ‘mission type’ services were held in the school. The vicar cherished his idea of building a place of worship for those who were unable to attend St Leonard’s, and this was made possible by two generous gifts: an offer to pay for the building by a former vicar, the Reverend F.T. Scott, and the provision of a site liberally presented by the Watts family.
In 1893 matters moved swiftly. An appeal for funds to furnish the church met with generous response. The ‘iron’ church, as it was referred to in those days, was ordered and erected within months. Described as a “pretty building”, it was intended to seat about 280 people. A Mr Andrews promised an altar to be made from oak grown on his own land. Unfortunately this is long gone as are the original wooden pews, the gas lighting , the coke stove and the nice two-manual organ (now in St Peter’s Church, Canterbury).
The opening of the church took place on Tuesday 19 September 1893 when the Archdeacon of Maidstone dedicated it to St Michael and All Angels. Since then it has been lovingly used and was restored for its centenary, celebrated in 1993 with special services, a flower festival, tea parties, etc. Throughout its 118-year history as a church, regular Sunday and weekday services, as well as Sunday School classes for children, have provided opportunity for thousands of worshipers who would not find it possible to get to St Leonard’s up above the town. It stands witness to the generosity of many people and the faith of those who used it as a church. The building, though not pretentious, always surprises visitors by its homely yet dignified interior.

“Tin Tabernacle” is the common name for a church and related buildings made of corrugated iron. Sometimes known also as “iron churches”, many designs were available in kit form, and could be highly decorated.
Actually having nothing at all to do with tin, these early prefabs became possible when Henry Robinson Palmer invented the "Corrugation and Galvanisation" of sheet iron in 1828. The California gold rush of 1849 and an Australian gold rush of 1851 sparked a boom in corrugated prefab buildings. "Manufacturers mass-produced structures, from as small as a pigsty to the magnitude of a cathedral, deliverable to anywhere accessible on the planet. In 1854 alone, it is estimated that some 30,000 buildings were shipped to Australia." The industrial revolution and colonial expansion created a need for churches, chapels and schools all over the Empire.
Tin tabernacles were a cheap alternative to churches, built by the Victorians to cope with swelling congregations at home and abroad. The churches were ordered as flat-packs; companies all over the country were able to provide the kit.
Relatively few tin tabernacles survive as places of worship today. One of the biggest surviving iron churches is the Bulgarian St Stephen Church in Istanbul, Turkey. (See www.tintabernacles.co.uk for more information.