The Shed of the Year competition has become a much-loved annual fixture, and as entries open for the 2020 competition we take a look back at some of the best efforts in the past.
The idea that an Englishman’s home is his castle is, of course, hopelessly outdated. Obviously, it’s his shed.
It’s well over a decade since Andrew Wilcox cooked up the Shed of the Year Competition, celebrating the weird and wonderful world of the garden shed. Over the years the entries have demonstrated a mix of ingenuity, creativity and eccentricity which seems a perfect fit for the British temperament.
Shed of the Year 2010? A pirate-themed pub in a back garden named ‘The Lady Sarah Out Of Worthing’.
14 years on it’s become one of the most lovably bonkers of the novelty prizes handed out each year, and certainly up there with the likes of ‘Rear of the Year’ and the International Birdman competition at Bognor Regis.
The latter is, sadly, facing an uncertain future, but the Shed of the Year competition is healthier than ever, and a nicely-appropriate sponsorship deal with wood treatment company Cuprinol has helped keep things going.
This Roman Temple was Shed of the Year in 2007.
Entries are now open for the 2020 award, so if you’re one of those — or you know someone — who has spent far too much time and money creating an overly elaborate, utterly inessential but nonetheless wonderful garden shed, you can submit an entry at their website, www.readersheds.co.uk.
Be warned, though: the standard of competition is pretty high, as you’ll see from the selection of previous winners on this page…
2012’s Shed of the Year was a sprawling Franken-shed dubbed ‘Woodhenge’…
Inside Woodhenge was a classic man cave.
Shed of the Year 2018 was environmentally-conscious Bee Eco Shed
Shed of the Year 2013: The solar-powered Boat Roofed Shed
Shed of the Year 2014 saw an ingenious rooftop allotment
Shed of the Year 2015 – Inshriach Distillery. Yes, it does feel like a lot of sheds are built by men wanting to drink more while in the comfort of their own homes…
You can see why Inshriach Distillery was the 2015 winner — inside, it’s beautiful, like an illegal still from the Old West
Shed of the Year 2019 – The Lord of the Rings-themed Bux End
Inside, Bux End looked every inch a hobbit’s home — albeit with sensibly higher ceilings.
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