The Folk Hall

The Folk Hall, built in 1905-1908, is a village hall situated in New Earswick, with a later addition from 1935. Designed by Parker and Unwin for the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust, the 1935 addition was completed by Parker alone. The building is constructed of pebbledashed and whitewashed brick, with a French tile roof.

The building is arranged in an early C-shaped range with a north wing that contains the original hall and reading room, and a south extension that houses a new hall. The north range is two storeys high and features nine bays, with a central range flanked by two side wings that project forward at an oblique angle. A recent flat-topped glazed porch fronts the centre, flanked by tall windows which break the roofline, providing light to the original hall space. To the left of the porch is a low extension with a catslide roof, incorporating a half-glazed door with a fixed window and casement windows to either side. The left wing has no ground-floor openings but features a pair of dormers with hipped roofs. The right wing incorporates a gabled extension with casement windows. A central canted bay, rising through two storeys to a gable, has glazed double doors, an overlight, sidelights and flanking fixed windows. Plate glass fixed windows are located to the left and right. The first floor of the central bay features mock timber framing and a five-light casement window with half-height lights to the sides, along with plate glass dormers to either side. A canted bay with mock timber framing sits at the right gable, featuring six-light casements, and the wing has a half-hipped roof. A bellcote is situated to the left. The south extension is a single-storey open hall with a steeply-pitched roof, lit by dormers. It has a double door flanked by buttresses, with a two-light casement and fixed windows either side, and a pair of plate glass fixed windows flanked by further buttresses. Dormers with hipped roofs are present on the first floor, along with a low dormer on the left-hand side. A pair of external stacks are visible on the left. A central bellcote is present.

The main hall is located within the south extension. The original hall in the centre of the north wing has been divided at first-floor level. Other rooms include a general-purpose room, an office, and a meeting room.