The hall has served the village for 80 years. Now it faces permanent closure after the trust that manages it ran out of money to cover essential repairs.
The village hall has been the centre of community life here for eight decades. It has hosted harvest suppers, polling stations, playgroups, yoga classes, the annual Christmas pantomime, and, in the early months of the pandemic, a food distribution hub for vulnerable residents. Now it is locked, and the trust that manages it says it cannot afford the £85,000 needed to repair the roof and replace the heating system.
The closure, which became effective last month, has left the village without a dedicated community space. The nearest alternative is a church hall four miles away, which is not always available and does not have the facilities — kitchen, accessible toilets, disabled access — that the village hall provided.
The chair of the management trust, who has been a trustee for 22 years, said the building had been "living on borrowed time" for at least a decade. Routine maintenance had been deferred repeatedly as the trust struggled to generate enough income from lettings to cover its running costs. The roof problem, which was identified in a structural survey two years ago, had been getting progressively worse.
"We applied for every grant we could find," she said. "We got some money from the rural community fund, which covered the survey and some of the preliminary work. But the main repair costs were beyond us."
The district council has been approached about the possibility of taking the building into public ownership, but has not yet responded formally. A local fundraising campaign has raised £12,000 — a significant sum for a village of 340 households, but far short of what is needed.
Several residents have said they will not give up. "This village has survived a lot worse than a leaky roof," one told the Chronicle. "We just need someone to help us find a way through."