I was reading about “tin tabernacles” having sketched the “Tin Tabernacle” in Esher. I discovered, via a Historic England blog article, that there is a Tin Tabernacle in Kilburn in London. So I went to have a look. It is an “iron church” built of galvanised corrugated iron in 1863. It used to have a steeple, but that has disappeared.
Here it is now:
The building was built as a church, and more recently was a centre for Sea Cadets. Its future is under discussion, according to an article on the London Historic Buildings Trust site (LHBT).
The site is owned by Notting Hill Genesis Housing Association (NHG). LHBT are currently working with NHG and the Sea Cadets, supported by Historic England and the Conservation Officer at Brent Council, to explore how the building can be stabilised and used in the future.
https://londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk/index.php/tin-tabernacle-kilburn/
The latest date mentioned in this article is 2021, so I guess the exploration is still going on. It’s listed as a “current project” on their website. The building was looking a little precarious when I visited this year (February 2024). An alarm was sounding inside.
It is Grade II listed, and on the Heritage at Risk Register. The listing is on this link. It is currently an events venue, the website is:
http://tintabernaclekilburn.org/
Here are some photos of the outside:
The building is about 150m north of Kilburn Park underground station on the Bakerloo Line.
The London Historic Buildings site has a “Virtual Visit” link, so you can see what it looks like inside, and there is a timeline of the building (click below to see it, 2 pages PDF):
It’s a building with a varied history. I wonder what will happen to it?
Jane Sketching 