The Village Hall

The Village Hall as it is today

Social events were usually held in the schoolroom, or outdoors in the Rectory garden, before 1924. For a time, they were sometimes held in an upstairs room in an outbuilding at East Farndon Hall. However, in 1923 the Parish Meeting set up a committee to oversee the provision of a 'recreation room' and the first village hall was erected soon after. It was a long wooden structure, with a raised stage at the far end. F.G. Cox, a wealthy local businessman, had offered the land at a nominal rent of one shilling per annum. Ten trustees were appointed to be the nominal tenants.

The Original Village Hall before its demolition

The Hall opened in January 1924 and for seventy years was a vital part of village life. Plays, dances, whist drives and meetings of all kinds took place there.

There was a small kitchen at the opposite end from the stage. This kitchen was one of the main aspects which came to seem inadequate towards the end of the century. So it was decided to obtain loans to buy the land on which the hall stood, and its adjacent car park, and then to erect a new hall which would meet modern standards.

Above - The Village Hall during demolition.

The new hall was opened in 1994 and has proved a great success, earning enough in lettings to pay off the loans sooner than anticipated.