Hall History

A brief History of Alfrick and Lulsley Village Hall

Prior to 1953, the need for a community centre in Alfrick was met by the use of two wooden ex-WW1 army huts to which had been added a kitchen and dressing room.  These huts were located on the opposite side of the road from the present hall where the bungalows now stand.  They also served in the day time as a classroom for the younger children from Alfrick School.  As far back as 1943, plans were being discussed on ways to establish a permanent, purpose designed village hall for the benefit of the residents of Alfrick and a Committee was formed to make progress with this project.  In 1945, the Committee made a special appeal for financial donations to support the project; 58 individual donations were received, amounting to £2,050.  Fundraising continued to increase this amount and in 1948 the first trustees of the embryonic village hall were formed, namely:

Seymore Barling…..Chairman

J.H.Hutchinson……Hon Secretary

E.R.Shaw…………..Treasurer

Preparations continued to be made but by September 1952 it was clear to the trustees that there would be a shortfall in the funding needed to complete the ground-works, the hall building itself and the fitting out.  The cost of building the hall was put at £3,500 and the fundraising at that date stood at £3,250. A further fundraising appeal was made which allowed the hall to be completed, debt free.  A total of 191 people made donations to both appeals, demonstrating strong local support for this project.

The hall was officially opened on Saturday 21st February 1953, and was named the “Alfrick Peace Memorial Hall” in respect of the dead of two World Wars.  The opening ceremony speech was made by Sir Chad Woodward, Chairman of Worcestershire County Council and was reported in the Berrows Worcester Journal.

At the time of opening, the layout of the hall differed significantly from the present hall.  Entry was by a door in the end wall of the hall facing onto the car park.  This outer door led into a small vestibule where a second door gave access to the main hall.  To the left and right were the toilets. Each of these areas are now incorporated into storage areas.  The main hall, without a stage, would not have been dissimilar to the present hall in overall appearance.  Beyond the hall was the kitchen.  At a later date, a small, flat-roofed extension was added. This was located approximately where the main storage room is now. This provided some storage space and a small meeting room.  This latter could only be accessed from the main hall which made the simultaneous use of the two rooms difficult.

The newly built hall was an immediate success with the residents, providing them with a wide range of leisure and community activities.  It continued largely unaltered in layout for the next 40 years or so but by the early 2000’s the hall was showing signs of an urgent need for extensive refurbishment, especially with the added pressure of meeting new legislation, particularly with regard to disabled access.  By 2004, the hall committee were actively considering a way forward – to include plans for raising the necessary funding.  At this stage there were a lot of options under consideration, including demolishing the hall and building a new one on the same site.  Gradually the range of options narrowed down to the refurbishment of the existing hall and an application was made to the Big Lottery Fund for support.  After a lot of work and raising match funding of £41,000, the lottery grant was secured and planning permission obtained.  The hall closed after the 2009 village show and shortly afterwards the hall was handed over to the contractor (Speller Metcalf).

Building work continued throughout the winter and into the summer of 2010 to produce the structure that you see today.  The hall was handed back to the committee for internal decoration prior to the opening ceremony on July 17th, performed by the local MP Harriet Baldwin.  Since then, the story has been one of steady improvements and additions to the facilities to provide a modern village hall capable of adapting to the changing needs of those it serves.

The hall formally changed its name to “Alfrick and Lulsley Village Hall” in recognition that it also serves the needs of the residents of Lulsley after the closure of their local hall.  In 2011, the hall committee granted a lease to put a new community shop on part of the hall car park, now a highly valued local resource.

The hall continues to adapt to the changing requirements of the community as it has done from its earliest days and remains an integral part of village life.

*The above notes are adapted from a display produced for the 70th anniversary of the opening of the hall on its present site.