A Brief History of Prefabs is a super article on the Historic England blog.
A Brief History of Prefabs
A prefab used for business
On a walk I came across this prefab attached to a motor repair business.
The changing map of St Denys
I was brought up in St Denys, an area of Southampton. After the Second World War prefabs were constructed that would become my home for over a decade. Sometime after 1976 the prefabs were demolished, as was the adjacent paint factory, and modern houses were built. The following 4 maps show how the area has changed.
All maps are screen-shots taken from http://www.old-maps.co.uk
St Denys Close, Southampton
The Prefab Museum
Click on the image to link to the Prefab Museum website.
New wave of prefabs to tackle housing crisis
The Government has promised to build one million new homes by 2020 – and now it emerges a chunk of them will be pre-packed.
http://news.sky.com/story/new-wave-of-prefabs-to-tackle-housing-crisis-10638268
Prefab Homes – Elisabeth Blanchet
Originally posted in:
https://mythingschange.wordpress.com/2016/03/27/prefabhomes/
Before the prefabs came…
The image below was taken in 1932 and shows St Denys, Southampton where our prefabs were built soon after the war. It’s the riverside area in the bottom-left-hand corner, just below the railway line/bridge. Also visible are possibly the boats which 20 years later became ‘the wrecks in the mud’ that we explored whilst wearing our wellies!
Cobden Bridge, the River Itchen and environs, Southampton, 1932 – Britain from Above
The Broadfields prefab on the IOW
A rebuilt prefab belonging to the Isle of Wight Model Engineering Society! See http://www.iwmes.org.uk/prefab.html for more information about their prefab.
Prefab & shed
We had a shed like this but as I recall the door faced the prefab.
(Image taken from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/114689097)
A prefab in Hamble
I came across this quote in a blog post about a prefab that still exists in Hamble, a Hampshire village I have frequently visited.
“I know this prefab is a rough-looking building, most people probably wouldn’t give it a second look, some might even think it is an eyesore, but I was so excited. You probably will not believe it. I’m sure you will think that I am crazy to get quite so excited over a very old bungalow that was manufactured in a factory and assembled on site.”
Extract from the blog:
http://tgrworzels.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/tripping-over-prefabs.html
Our prefab – the end
I can find no images or information regarding our prefab at St Denys Drive in Southampton, but I have found this 1976 announcement of its imminent demolition.
After demolition the prefabs in St Denys Drive and St Denys Close were replaced with houses, and the roads renamed as Janaway Gardens.
Orchard Green prefabs, Beccles
Click on the photo to visit a nice looking website with some affectionate photos of the residents of this prefab estate in Beccles, Suffolk.
Prefab Museum 8th March – 31st May 2014
Now extended to 31st May, 2014 [Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays]
A pop-up museum documenting the history of a Catford housing estate is to open in March.The Prefab Museum considers the single-storey prefabs of the Excalibur Estate , built as inexpensive housing after the Second World War.
Palaces for the people (Facebook)
Palaces for the People – a project to record the history of UK’s prefabs by Elisabeth Blanchet (and Sonia Zhuravlyova). (A Facebook account is not required)
Prefab images
Click the picture for prefab images from Google
Prefabs to make a comeback?
A letter in today’s i newspaper regarding solving the housing crisis:
In the 1940s there was a drastic housing shortage. The answer then was to build thousands of “prefabs”. These were quite acceptable dwellings. Instead of more hand-wringing and waffle, why not launch a similar programme?
Southampton Prefabs 