An illustrated history of Hanchurch Village Hall

Hanchurch Village Hall is situated on a site of around 3,200 square yards off the Whitmore Road, north of Trentham, and serves the communities of Clayton, Hanchurch and Trentham within the civic Parish of Swynnerton, Staffordshire, UK. The three images to the right give a flavour of how it looked in Autumn 2002. (Click on any of the images aside and below to see enlarged pictures). 2002 was its Golden Jubilee year, which was celebrated with an event at the Hall on 26^th October. The pictures and text below summaries some key elements of its history so far.
The idea to create a centre for local activities was enshrined in a conveyance, drawn up on 9^th June 1952, between six prominent people living in the neighbourhood for the purpose of 'physical and mental training and recreation and social, moral and intellectual development'. A second hand hut was purchased, which had a wooden frame and asbestos panels and stood on stilts, to compensate for the problems of a sloping site. One of its first uses was to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
After 25 years of use, concerns were raised about the safety of the original second-hand hut and the Village Hall Committee considered selling the land and using the proceeds to serve the community in other ways. However, a public meeting affirmed a desire to maintain a Village Hall and a new Committee was elected. After much intensive fund raising (and some enjoyable events), work on a new Hall began in April 1986 and the first stage of the new facilities were available for use by July of the following year. By the time of its Golden Jubilee, the Hall was much in demand with many regular activities but it is available for bookings, especially those that meet its original aims.

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