The church was built as a temporary structure on land given to the people of West End village by Queen Victoria, from the royal estate of Claremont. The idea was for the servants of the house and the farm labourers there to have easier access to a place of worship ("The Parish of Esher"). Not as elaborate as the well-known Deepcut Garrison "Tin Church," also in Surrey, St George's is nevertheless an essential part of this perfect village scene, facing the green with its cricket pitch and pond. Such churches were easily assembled, and could be sent to small villages at home or outposts of empire. They do tend to heat up in summer and stay cold in winter, and the rain makes a noise on their roofs, but they have proved remarkably sturdy. As one commentator writes, "Tin Tabernacles are an important if brief and overlooked episode in the history of church architecture," and have a claim to "be recognised as listed buildings, particularly as examples of prefabrication" (Dopson 204-05).
From Parish website Mar 2011
(The Claremont Cache GC7J8NC is within the grounds of Claremont-Landscape-Garden)
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