A CONCERT tour featuring Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou is to take in Bilson Mission Church, Cinderford on Monday (January 17).

The pair are specially interested in 'Tin Tabenacles' like Bilson, and the tour is named after it and similar nonconformist churches.

"Between 1860 and the early 20th century the rapid increase in iron, coal and lead mining resulted in vast numbers of people moving to remote corners of the land," they explain.

"These sudden new communities found themselves without the requisite amenities. Meanwhile, the sun was ablaze throughout the British Empire seeking to 'convert, advance and civilise' the colonies. Dispensaries, hospitals, schools and missionary churches were required not just in the far corners of the British Isles, but all over the world.

"At home, the Anglican Church was loosing its grip on the worshipping public due to the spread of non-conformist movements such as Methodism and Wesleyanism. Their medieval churches, built upon medieval geography, often left them out of the reach of the communities they'd hoped to serve. And, if the people couldn't get to the church, the new movements would capitalise by bringing the church to the people.

"The demand for cheap, transportable, quickly erectable temporary structures was immense. Step forward the recently invented (1828) 'Corrugation and Galvanization of Iron' by British engineer Henry Robinson Palmer. The material's increased strength and stability meant that around a timber frame, buildings of any size from a garden shed to a cathedral could be ordered from a catalogue, prefabricated, flat-packed and shipped anywhere in the world.

"Dubbed 'Tin Tabernacles' by the mocking ecclesiastical establishment the term has outlived most of the buildings themselves."

Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the duo will perform eleven spectacular concerts at some of the rare remaining tin tabernacles, including Bilson (doors 7pm, tickets in advance from http://www.wegottickets.com/lantern">www.wegottickets.com/lantern).