Chalet Fields of The Gower

This is a new ’pocket’ edition with better quality photo reproduction and additional materials.'A slump in agricultural profits in the Britain of the 1920s and 30s,and a consequent precipitous drop in the value of land,led to the growth of the 'Plotland' movement.Enterprising farmers would divide their fields into small plots which would be rented out or sold outright at low prices to anyone wishing to build a small cabin or chalet on them. The sizes of the plots,and the facilities offered and conditions imposed varied from site-to-site,and what emerged was an eclectic vernacular, relying very much on found or re-purposed items to create buildings which ranged from essentially allotment huts to full-time dwellings. There was a strong independent, even politically radical streak amongst the plotlanders, and this, combined with the ad-hoc nature of construction led to them falling foul of the authorities.The passing of the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947 sounded the death-knell for the movement, and many were compulsorarily purchased and the residents re-housed in the post-war period. Where they have survived, such as here on the Gower captured by Stefan Szczelkun’s camera, they are a powerful reminder of a brief but influential movement in British building, one which should cause us to review our relationship to the land upon which we live.The Chalet Fields of the Gower in South Wales represent one of the finest surviving examples of Plotlands... arguably the last significant vernacular architectural building movement in the British Isles. Often making use of re-purposed or salvaged material, these chalets were built on former farmland divided into plots, with minimal services or tenure.’Stefan Szczelkun, by his own evocative photography, and in conversation with Owen Short, a local architect experienced in the construction, extension and maintenance of these remarkable chalets, captures the unique atmosphere of a fascinating chapter in the history of our built environment.'  Nick Barber