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VILLAGE HALL HISTORY We have come across two elderly documents that recount some of the history of this fine old building. They illustrate how the Hall has been adapted and refurbished throughout the years in order to meet the needs and changing fashions of the decades.
A BRIEF HISTORY The hall was built and opened in 1885. It was paid for by contributions from the parish but principally by the gift of Lord Pembroke and Edwin Dibben, tenant farmer of Flamstone Farm, who owned the land - a croft belonging to Old Netton Farm - where it was built. The first regular 'Reading Room' meetings were held during the winter of 1885/6, for which one shilling admission was charged. The first recorded entertainment was on Easter Monday 1889 when Miss Hine and Miss Page organised performances by the village schoolchildren and the young men who attended the night school in the hall. The Men's Society, which started soon after the hall was built, resulted in a strongly supported series of missionary meetings in the hall. In 1897 the Mission Hall, as it became called during this period, was adorned with curtains at the windows and on the stage and with a picture of the crucifixion. All were the gifts of the Rev F Raikes, the rector. 1897 was a busy year in the life of the hall. It was the focal point for villagers to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, the occasion for vast quantities of food to be eaten - 180lbs of cake from Compton's Shop at the top of Pitts Lane and 150lbs of cake and buns from Mrs Briant. Reading Room members arranged a supper, too, for which Mr Compton provided the bread and Mr Elliott the beer. In 1903 the sixth annual Flower Show attracted 312 entries of flowers, fruit and vegetables. The hall was also the venue of a two-week Church Army mission when meetings were held each evening. In 1909 Mrs Jessie Barter, grandmother of Norman Barter, the present hall committee chairman, staged her 11th annual concert in aid of Salisbury Infirmary. It played to packed houses on two nights. Through the 1920s, on winter Sunday evenings, large crowds were attracted to the hall to enjoy singing together to the accompaniment of Jessie Barter on the American organ. In 1921 the room was added to the hall as a memorial to those from the village who had lost their lives in the First World War. It was built by the Bishopstone builder, C.M. Wort. It was initially called the Club Room and was a popular venue for billiards. Until the 1930s, when electricity came to the village, the hall was lit with lamps and candles. Heat came from two open fires, which also enabled kettles to be boiled. Other amenities followed the introduction of electricity, including fresh water which, in due course, enabled flush toilets to be installed. Through the years of the Second World War the hall played a crucial role as a venue for meetings, socials, the reception of evacuees and those made homeless, jumble sales and auctions for charity, Home Guard, Civil Defence, Girl Guide and WVS meetings, lectures and Ministry of Information film shows. In about 1940 tennis enthusiasts built a court behind the hall in the area that is now the car park. The hall itself was convenient for the supply of refreshments to the tennis players. At the end of the war, in 1945, a Welcome Home evening was held for all the returnees, each of whom was presented with a cheque from funds raised in the village. After the war Canon Hall, the rector, held monthly services at the hall on Sunday evenings, when Frank Gulliver provided musical accompaniment. Worshippers were summoned to the hall by the bell which hung outside above the western end of the roof. It had to be removed to the church for safe keeping in 1970 as it had become a target for young stone-throwers whose inaccuracy meant the hall windows were under threat. Two years of restoration work on the hall culminated in a grand reopening in 1970. From then on, it flourished as the home of numerous groups and organisations, evening classes and parties. To mark its centenary in 1985 a week-long celebration was held in June which enabled funds to be raised for yet more maintenance and improvements. The work of keeping the hall in a safe, comfortable and healthy state of repair continues into the 21st century, ensuring it maintains its role as the focal point of social activity in Bishopstone.
The Bishopstone Village Hall An article kindly donated by Mrs K Wareham and dated 4-7-1970 It was in 1885 that Edwin Dibben, a local farmer and church warden of that day, decided with others of the village, that they would build a “Mission Hall” that could be used by the community for entertainment and Church services in wintertime (the Parish Church being at the other end f the village). Enlisting the financial assistance of many local people, together with that of George, 14th Earl of Pembroke, the hall was built and opened to the public the following year. It was not until after the first World War that an addition was made to the structure in the form of a Memorial Room. This was added to the end of the building, and it was here that an Ex-Servicemen’s Club was formed with a billiard table and bar at one time. The cost of this extension was £1,000 in that day, and this was raised by public subscription in the memory of those who lost their lives in the war from the village, and are commemorated in the hall. During the last war the hall was used as a school to house a large number of evacuees from the Portsmouth area who brought their own teaching staff and lived in nearby Netton House. The toilets were added in 1957 with the aid of a grant and local benefactors, and this now brings us to the present day when the village hall is used practically every evening for some activity, and has now been found to be unsafe. The Hall Committee, which consists of representatives of all the village organisations (14 in all), have a plan to improve the facilities of the building. This includes the renovation of the kitchen, the addition of toilet basins with water heaters, re-surfacing the main hall floor, and other features that will assist stage productions in the future. The urgent repairs that have been found to be necessary consist of the buttressing of the leaning wall, the replacement of the entrance porch, and the replacement of the ceiling which has recently been removed for safety reasons on the advice of our architect. All these items the Committee hope to carry out with the aid of grants available, but the village (population 700) have to raise at least £1,500 of the total (£4,000), and it is to this end that the “Bishopstone Weekend” was born. The event is of a size never before undertaken by the village, but it has proved that with a number of small committees of very willing helpers, the “Weekend” will give you all the satisfaction of attending a worth while event. |