Build Your Own Village Hall

The drive to build village halls in the 1920s and 30s tested the resolve and initiative of rural communities. There were a wide range of schemes to collect the necessary resources. Most notable in Derbyshire was the assistance given by the Manners family (the family name of the Dukes of Rutland) to their local village of Rowsley. Haddon Hall, the family’s local retreat, had recently been renovated and the Manners lot organised an open day for everyone to come and have a nosy around. The associated charges went towards the Rowsley Village Hall Fund. Apparently the open day was extremely well attended by people from far and wide, including the US.

In other places, legacies were left by rich benefactors; and in more generally well-off places, they had a whip-round. In less prosperous places, a wooden hut might have been shoved up in a corner somewhere.

More detailed information is available on the process of building a hall in an unnamed location near Salisbury Plain in 1929/30. There were no specially wealthy residents here, but villagers decided that if money could be found to purchase materials, then they would build it themselves. They were lucky enough to have skilled carpenters and bricklayers among their number. One bricklayer pledged to lay 10,000 bricks “which gave just that touch of romantic generosity which served to silence the pessimists.” The foundations were dug in 1929 with work being carried out in the evenings and on Saturday afternoons. Men and boys of all classes mucked in with digging and carrying. The women and elderly meanwhile were tasked with getting the money to buy the materials by collecting subscriptions and organising a fete, raising an “unexpected total of £625.” The basic building was complete by the end of that year and further additions of a porch, kitchen and offices were made the following year. The total cost was £586 9s 7d and the spare time of around 3 dozen people. Total bricks used: 42,000.

What a shame that this article in The Times was reluctant to say where all this took place – it would be fascinating to know if it is still standing and still in use.

Have a look at my books, do

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The Curious Case of the Whitminster Village Hall Thief

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Woods Ware China at the Serving Hatch

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