BRIEF HISTORY

The land which the hall stands was purchased from George William Prior by the committee on 27th February 1933 for £30 and was vested in the Official Trustee of Charity Lands on 30th March 1933. The hall was built at a cost of £850, including all furniture and fittings. A further purchase was made in 1938 from Mr Prior to provide the car park at a cost of £50.
The main fabric of the hall they built has changed relatively little until the refurbishment in the late 90’s. The hall originally incorporated a stage with dressing rooms and an external door to the dressing room so that the football club had access without dirtying the hall.

The Committee, then called a council of management, consisted of two representative members each from the North Warnborough Women’s institute, the North Warnborough Football Club, the North Warnborough Cricket Club and the North Warnborough Reading Room and one member from the Parish Council.

The composition of the committee in the 80’s bore little relation to the 1933 constitution, it included 6 representatives from: 3 churches, Garden Club, Art Group, parish council and 6 elected members.

The hall has celebrated its diamond jubilee, and, while much had been done in the preceding years, the committee believed the building needed modernizing to meet the higher standards which are now expected. This took a number of years, and as our income increased and our fund raising skills improved we were able to complete the more improvements. This programme involved capital assistance from the Millennium Fund and also from County, District and Parish councils as well as some £20,000 from the village hall funds with the work targeted for 1997. This programme included;

a. Replacing the existing kitchen with one that provides the layout and standard of equipment now expected by our supporters and to meet with current legislation.
b. To provide adequate storage facilities at hall floor level as none is available at present.
c. To provide serving hatches, both to the hall and to the new committee room.
d. To provide an annex to the hall available for use by small groups/committee meetings.
e. To improve the front entrance and provide a vestibule.
f. To improve cloakroom facilities.
g. To provide a new system of central heating.

The hall has since been extended eastwards and the kitchen has been further enhanced. The ladies and gents toilets have also been refurbished with the ladies toilets brought up to disabled standards. Additionally, a second unisex toilet for the disabled has been installed.
Nothing stands still, the plans to totally redecorate and to replace the heating system were completed during the winter of 2005/6.