| Everyone in Winsham is familiar with the Jubilee Hall. At the centre of the village, it has been the setting for innumerable meetings and performances. There are few who have not attended a village pantomime, play or concert; a wide range of age groups from Brownies to Over Sixties have pursued their activities here in the Jubilee Hall, most
having sung or danced, painted or exercised, celebrated a family occasion or at public meetings, argued and
discussed. It was used as a centre for the war
efforts in two World Wars-for recruitment, an 'overflow school for
evacuees' and lots of other purposes. It is a Polling Centre for national
and local elections. There is very little that happens in the village
community in which the Jubilee Hall does not play some part. If you look across Church Street at the Hall you can clearly see the dates 1837 and 1887, which commemorates the building of the Hall in the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Inside the dates are repeated either side of the main window in red and gold. Lord Bridport of Cricket St Thomas built the Hall for the benefit of the village, both as a meeting place and for educational purposes: it was referred to as a reading room. Two thatched cottages were knocked down to provide the site, and we are fortunate enough to have photographs of them. The crowded village street and the clothes of the people photographed (especially the policeman's top hat) are a wonderfully preserved record of the time. In 1905, Deed of Gift conveyed the Hall from the Hood family to the Parish Council, along with an endowment for its upkeep. A proviso stated that if the Hall was neglected, ownership must be returned to the Hoods. In 1947 this proviso was released, and the Hall became unreservedly the property of the village. Prior to 1905,it seems that Lord Bridport needed to give his permission for new purposes for the Hall. The Minutes of the First Parish Council Meeting, held on the 13th December 1894 record that the meeting was held in the hall only after his approval had been sought and recieved. The Parish Council have used the Jubilee Hall for its meetings since this time, and if you visit the gallery of this web museum devoted to the history of the Parish Council many references will be found to problems of management and up-keep. The cost of maintaining the fabric and facilities were always burdensome to the Parish Council, and it w  as the need to raise some £6,000 to install a
heating system that made it necessary, under the terms of a grant
from the Glubenkian Foundation, for the Parish Council to apply
for charitable status for the hall. In 1965 it became a Charity,
administered by a management committee, elected from village
organisations and by parish residents. A member of the Parish
Council continues to sit on the management committee as a
Representative member. For
many years, between the two world wars, within the memory of older people in the village the highlight of the week was the "sixpenny hop" on Saturday nights.
These were even more eagerly attended during the Second World War when American soldiers from the temporary camp at Cricket St.Thomas came along. Flirtations, on the part of the girls and fights, started by the anxious local lads, were a common occurrence. During this period, on weekdays the Jubilee Hall was also used as an 'overflow' school room, made necessary by the influx of children evacuated from the cities. The need for on-going maintenance and
improvement To meet new safety regulations, plastic chairs,
curtains in fire resistant materials, Exit signs and circuit breakers were
introduced in the 1980s. In 1989 part of the chimney fell down in a hurricane (damaging the then playgroup leader's car) so the distinctive chimney was shortened.
2004-Jubilee Hall faces closure This was was successfully achieved as a result of a
wonderful community effort led by a very active Jubilee Hall Management
Committee. Grants were obtained from South Somerset District Council,
Defra, Awards for All, Wyvern Waste Management, and a number of other smaller grant
providers. The Parish Council gave £15,000,which was raised on the
precept. Local people were also very generous with time and money, and
this, with local fund raising efforts raised some £30,000. In about
eighteen months sufficient money had been raised to commence work. The
Hall closed at the end of June 2006 and reopened in January 2007.The
transformation was remarkable. The opportunity had been taken to totally
update the hall's facilities and appearance .
In response to the efforts of the community the Hall Committee was determined that the hall would not cost the people of Winsham any more to hire, in real terms, than it did previously, a promise that - to date - they have been able to keep (2009). For more information, click on links below. http://www.winsham.org.uk/Jubilee Hall/jubileehre-opening.htm |
