Based in and around Lewisham. Londoner. Information, mainly about prefabs. Opinions my own. Prefab Museum devotee and director.
Lewisham, London, SE4, UK
Joined October 2010
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Brent local historian, Philip Grant, will be giving an illustrated talk about "Willesden's Post-War #Prefab Homes" on Wednesday 18 October at 7.30pm. Visitors are welcome (small charge for non-members). St Mary's Parish Centre, Neasden Lane, London NW10 2TS
“Well at the time we thought gosh this is really modern. It’s got a bathroom, you’ve got somewhere to wash your hands, you’ve got a toilet inside. It was luxury to us.” #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
“The second prefab was of the Universal design and so I had the pleasure of telling people that I had grown up in a cardboard house, then an asbestos one!” #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
“There’s a sense of community, people keep an eye on each other. I like that there are no stairs. In fact, when I want to hoover the complete bungalow, I can use one socket in the entrance hall, and I can hoover every room in the house.” #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Thank you for following #HouseHistoryHour on post-war prefabs. If you have any questions, or information, I would love to hear them. I will finish with comments and photos by people who lived in prefabs and why they loved them so much
I aim to raise funds to continue the website and archive for a further five years but would welcome suggestions for a permanent home for the archive, which is unique in its national coverage of post-war prefabs 2/2 #HouseHistoryHour
The Prefab Museum is unfunded and run voluntarily. A generous @HeritageFundUK grant 2016-18 enabled the museum to travel around the UK and establish the website and archive, funding for which finishes at the end of March 2023 1/2 #HouseHistoryHour
By popular demand I have included the post-war permanent prefabs eg BISF, Orlit, Hawksley BL8, Airey, Cornish Units. There is an excellent website recording locations and information about them nonstandardhouse.com/ #HouseHistoryHour
The Prefab Museum maintains a list and information about Swedish timber prefabs Imported after WW2 to address the rural housing shortage. Thanks to the many owners and residents who have contributed, as they are difficult to find unaided #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Freedom of Information requests to local authorities about non-traditional housing stock (submitted by surveyors) whatdotheyknow.com/ produced lists of post-war prefabs, many now modernised so unrecognisable #HouseHistoryHour
If the prefabs were demolished between map series, we have a problem! Cross referencing locations and aerial photos from Britain From Above, the type of prefab can be identified. #HouseHistoryHour britainfromabove.org.uk/
Post-war prefab bungalows are very distinctive shapes on old maps. I think I have recorded approximately 152,000 of the 156,623 erected so still a few to find #HouseHistoryHour maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoo…
Other sources of information: @UkNatArchives, Hansard transcripts and academic books and articles; the wonderful @natlibscotmaps; @HE_Archive, @LdnMetArchives, local and regional photo archives. Local archives can be variable! #HouseHistoryHour
Local interest groups and history societies, local projects, giving talks and exhibiting at events or museums across the UK can be rich sources of information #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Personal photos, memories and old maps may be the only record that some prefabs existed at all. The Prefab Museum welcomes all contributions, to preserve this important social history of post-war recovery. #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
When the Temporary Housing Programme ended, prefabs were offered to local authorities, for sale and exported. Some were bought, others dismantled or demolished within this period, but many stayed up for decades longer. #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Rents were affordable, the built-in cupboards and appliances meant that new tenants didn’t have to spend money on them, and large gardens enabled them to grow vegetables and fruit while rationing was still in force. #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Prefabs were located on bomb sites and open spaces including parks, in rural locations, towns and villages, and were scheduled to be dismantled and replaced after 10 to 15 years. Over 70 years later several thousand are still lived in. #HouseHistoryHour prefabmuseum.uk/content/cata…
Prefabs were built round a central core, or service unit, supplying utilities to the kitchen, toilet and bathroom. For many people the modern conveniences and spacious design of the prefab were a huge leap in quality of life. #HouseHistoryHour