A Brief History of the Hall Part 2 - Becoming the Village Hall

Following the closure of the school in 1938, the building reverted to the Diocese of Chelmsford, and was used intermittently as the Church Hall until the early 1990's. Unfortunately, a lack of funds meant that the building gradually deteriorated, and, by early 1995, a local surveyor advised that one more winter would probably be its' last. As fate would have it, the village pub closed later that year, and this prompted a village meeting to see if the Hall could be saved, as it was now the only secular communal building left.

With the encouragement of the Rural Community Council of Essex, enough people volunteered to form a fund-raising committee, with the initial aim of stabilising the building - shown in the picture top left. A 30-year lease was negotiated with the Diocese, and in the following year the Village Hall became a registered charity. This opened the door to a number of grants, and with a huge voluntary effort from the Village Hall Committee members, their families and friends the Hall became once more a place where people could meet and hold events, without having to keep their coats on! The picture top right shows the Hall after the first phase of renovation.