Visit Nissen Huts.

You can still visit Nissen Huts at The Chiltern Open Air Museum in Buckinghamshire.

The Chiltern Open Air Museum has built two Nissen Huts; one is a replica of an original first world war Nissen, or Bow Hut and the other a second world war one. Bow Huts, as they were originally called were usually built on brick or stone piers to keep them off the ground and had wooden floors; whereas in the Second World War they tended to be on concrete slabs if permanent, or straight on to the ground for temporary ones, such as during the build-up to D-Day.

The original First world war Nissen huts had an inner liner of tongued and grooved boarding which was swiftly demolished by the troops who used the wood to feed to the stove and keep warm.  This caused Nissen to design a new liner made of corrugated iron running horizontally. This required the invention of a slider to hold the inner corrugated iron panels together.

There are still a few Nissen huts around, some military bases still have them, and there are some on WW2 Airfield museums in Suffolk and Norfolk. There is a group of derelict huts near Winslow in Buckinghamshire. A 24ft hut can be seen at Marsh Farm, Leagrave, Luton in Bedfordshire, and a more derelict one at the “Forties Experience” at Bushey in Hertfordshire. Many more can be found dotted around the countryside, bought as surplus after WW2, mainly by farmers.

So, if you’d like to visit Nissen Huts take a trip to COAM. The person who knows a lot about Nissen Huts and the technical elements is:- 
John Hyde-Trutch – Buildings Manager, Chiltern Open Air Museum
Newland Park, Gorelands Lane, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire HP8 4AB
www.coam.org.uk