A Brief History of Shackleford Village Hall
Shackleford Village Hall started life as the Shackleford Institute, built in 1893 as ‘a private charitable club for the purposes of reading and recreation for its members …’. The Hall was opened by Lord Midleton of Peper Harow, who became its first president.
The original brick-built Victorian building includes an open vaulted hall, with a stage and ‘Green Room’ and catering facilities. The building incorporates a self-contained cottage.
In 1974 a Social Club was added but in 1995 a fire destroyed part of the building. It was rebuilt maintaining its Victorian features and with improved facilities. The main hall is named Pilkington Hall after a long-serving president and benefactor.
In the early 2000’s the Social Club and the Hall were being used less and less and in particular the Social Club was no longer attracting sufficient interest to justify the running costs. The Hall was in daytime use as Acorns Nursery, but with minimal activity in the evenings and at weekends.
In 2009, the constitution was revised and modernised, and the members agreed to transfer the assets to a newly formed charitable company limited by guarantee. The original objectives of ‘The improving of the conditions of life of the inhabitants of the Parish of Shackleford…’ are preserved in the current Memorandum and Articles.
At the same time a decision was made to close the Social Club and relocate Acorns to the refurbished area previously used by the Social Club. This had the dual advantage of giving Acorns a dedicated space, allowing them to develop a permanent setting, and freeing the Hall for daytime use by other groups.
The nursery now operates independently and the area occupied by the nursery is named the Brigstocke Room, in recognition of services to Shackleford and the locality by Sandy and Diana Brigstocke.
The Cottage was also refurbished and established as a separate entity to the Hall and is now rented independently of the rest of the Centre.
This restructuring of the constitution, and revised operation of the Centre, generated sufficient income to begin improving the facilities leading to more regular use of the Pilkington Hall, which is now widely used for a range of activities and the Centre benefits from an active program of continuous improvement.
The Centre is in regular use by Acorns Nursery, St. Mary’s School, various clubs and classes, and residents of the surrounding area. We welcome new groups and look forward to seeing you.