Navvy mission hall
Although it is known that S.W.A. Newton photographed this navvy mission hall on 14.4.1903, its location remains unclear. As the Great Western & Great Central Joint Line was being constructed at that time, the hall was probably located at a village in Buckinghamshire. The reputation that navvies had for being lawless, unruly and even godless people may, by the early 1900s, have been largely false, but many churchmen and moralists still considered the navvy to be in need of guidance. To this end, the Navvy Mission Society provided buildings such as this corrugated metal hut for communities of navvies to receive religious instruction.
Digital Reference: L2443
Creator: Newton, S. W. A. - 1903-04-14
Contributor: Leicestershire County Council
Type: Black and white
Format: 117mm, 163mm
Copyright: Leicestershire County Council
Source: S. W. A. Newton Collection - Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland (copy of glass plate negative, part of S. W. A. Newton Collection)
Identifier: Newton - Y 3/1
