Village Hall

This is a village reading room, now a village hall, dating to 1887 and designed by Thomas Colcutt. It was constructed in the Cotswold vernacular revival style using regularly coursed and dressed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, topped with a graded stone slate roof, hipped to the right end and gabled to the left, with a lower, roughly central gable facing the front. The rear roof was originally stone slate but has been replaced with concrete tiles.

The front elevation features a corbelled gable roughly centred, with a clock in a recessed panel and a datestone (1887) at the apex. A canted bay below the gable has a mullioned and transomed window divided into 15 leaded lights, flanked by cross windows to the returns. Matching 3-light mullioned and transomed leaded windows are found on either side of the main wall, with a small 2-light mullioned window tucked beneath the eaves to the far right. An entrance is positioned to the left, accessed through a 4-centred arch with a hoodmould and decorative wrought-iron gates. The left gable end exhibits close-studded timber framing to the apex, and a gabled bellcote to the right end wall, complete with louvres and a stack breaking through its gable.

The interior of the main hall has seen minimal alteration, retaining its original curved principal roof in three bays, supported by stone corbels and curved windbraces to two tiers of purlins. A moulded segmental-arched recess on the rear wall, mirrored by a corresponding recess to the bay window on the front wall, originally housed a fireplace (now infilled) with blue and white tile inserts. War memorials are displayed on carved wooden boards to either side of the moulded segmental arch leading to the entrance lobby. At the opposite end of the hall hangs a painted backdrop depicting the village, created for a theatrical performance held in 1888.

The building was constructed in 1887-88 at a cost of £516, funded through public subscriptions and a gift of £100 plus the land, from Charles Whitmore, lord of the manor. It was opened by him in October 1888, remaining open from 5pm to 9.30pm on weekdays and 2pm to 5pm on Sundays. Membership was restricted to men and youths at a cost of 2d per month. After its original use declined in the 1920s, the building became the village hall, a function it continues to serve. It underwent full repairs in 2002. The building’s Cotswold vernacular revival style and high quality detailing make it an integral part of the village street scene and contribute to an attractive group of listed buildings.