The History
So begins the Conveyance of the Broad Chalke Village Hall granting the creation of the Hall and what its purpose is.
The Conveyance continues:
“…shall be held upon trust for the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation and social moral and intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms, library, lectures, classes recreations and entertainment or otherwise as may be found expedient for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Broadchalke in the county of Wiltshire and its immediate vicinity without distinction of sex or political religion or other opinions”
This is what the Village Hall stands for and why it came about.
It was originally a reading room built on the site of a double cottage. In 1908 the treasurer to the Social Work Committee of King’s College Cambridge wrote to the Vicar of Broad Chalke offering to supply a Reading Room for the village. The total cost for the Hall was £280, almost half funded by King’s College. The Hall was opened on 18th December 1911.
After many years of continuous improvements the Hall received a substantial donation from Cecil Beaton. Work began in 1960.
A new kitchen and toilet facility was added in 1979. In 1987 the Gurston Room was added and named in the memory of John Hitchings who was Chairman of the Village Hall Committee for 8 years and a Committee Member for 21 years.
Although the Hall started out as a reading room all those years ago, you would need to bring your own books today! Today it is a lively centre of Broad Chalke village with many events and meetings of the local parishioners.
Gurston Room
Main Hall
Kitchen
Contact Bookings Clerk:
Sue Gooden
Tel: 01722 780596
South Street
Broad Chalke
Wiltshire
SP5 5DN