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Village Hall Focus - Islip, Oxfordshire


In the 1870s, William Wilkinson left the village of Islip in Oxfordshire and came to Sheffield for a better job. Without this minor contribution to the industrial revolution I may not exist – William Wilkinson was my Great Great Grandad and it was in Sheffield that he met my Great Great Grandmother, who had joined the throng from a village in Northamptonshire. They settled in the considerably less bucolic surroundings of Attercliffe among the steelworks.

When I traced my family tree it brought me into contact with a wide range of tiny villages that I had never previously heard of – the Wilkinson story was repeated in every branch of my tree and was a fascinating history lesson on how our cities were built. I have since taken an interest in all of my ancestral villages from the viewpoint of a now post-industrial Sheffield, but Islip has become my favourite. So let’s have a look at their village hall.

Islip was also the birthplace of Edward the Confessor (ooh, I wonder if my ancestors where there…did they have anything to do with it…I bet they wetted the baby’s head in the local inn). Anyway this is something that is made much of on the village hall website, with a lovely roundel illustrating the top of the home page. The site goes on to tell us that the hall was built in the 1950s and refurbished half a century on. There are plenty of photographs (some including the nearby church, which Gt Gt Grandad would recognise, which fascinates me) that show it to be indeed at the top end of the scale of village halls. The main hall is in true 1950s style, like an upturned boat. The parish room looks to have the most comfortable seats I have ever seen in a village hall, each one looking like they belong in the cockpit of a luxury aeroplane.  Not only that, the prices are very reasonable, and I have paid much more per hour for a lot less salubrious surroundings. There is a generously curtained stage and many photos of the main hall done up for a wedding reception fit for Pinterest.



Some Google reviews:
·        Lovely place, love the Viking Children’s playground next to it (Viking? How would Edward the Confessor feel about this?)
·        Lovely village hall, floor to dance on and a well equipped kitchen!
·        Super hall been to new year’s eve, bonfire nights, and now a wake 😢 a really brilliant hall and location.
·        Parking was not a problem and the shop was open when we visited. A very big play park considering the size of the village. Lots for the children to play on something suitable for all ages. Well maintained and clean park.

So it seems not only is it a top notch hall, the playground is often worthy of comment too. Well done, my lost cousins of Islip!

https://www.islipvillagehall.com/

Have a look at my historically themed Amazon bookshelf

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