Church Buildings
The Church Hall
History
The hall is a wooden structure, originally built as a workshop on the water meadow by the river where aircraft were built in WW I. It was purchased by a churchwarden in 1938 and moved, by agreement with the Diocese, to its present site on the edge of the vicarage garden. A kitchen, toilets and two small meeting/storage rooms were added at a later date. The Diocese insisted that the land on which it stands and the wall between the site and the vicarage garden should be separated from the benefice, so they were purchased by the PCC, who are still the trustees.
The Current Situation
Considering its age, and regular daily use, the hall is in reasonably good structural order, well maintained and equipped. There is an ongoing project to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. Costs of running and maintaining the hall are met by the income from a contract with a day nursery which uses the facilities every weekday from 8.00 to 5.30. It is available for letting in the evenings and at weekends when it is not being used for choir practice, or by church groups for meetings and social events.
The Future
In the last year the PCC considered long term requirements for the parish, which included the possibility of a new church hall. The matter has been discussed at a church open meeting and with the Diocesan surveyor. No agreement has been reached or decisions made. The intention of the Diocese to investigate the possibility of selling the vicarage site for development would also involve sale of the hall site and the adjacent wall, owned by the PCC, to provide the necessary access.
