ABOUT THE HALL

Our history

The development of a meeting place for the villagers of Barnham closely mirrors the increase in population since the opening of Barnham Station. There are three phases to Barnham Parish Hall to present time. It is important to record these phases as the current hall was demolished in May 2013 and was replaced with housing now that the new hall on Murrell’s field is open.

Phase 1 – the thatched cottages

Until 1834 the village poor were the responsibility of the parish and this worked well while communities were for the most part rural. However, the Poor Law of that year took the main responsibility from the local parish to a group system. In the case of Barnham and neighbouring villages this was Westhampnett Rural Council and the poor (or work) house was located there. In Barnham the parish poorhouse had been a thatched building said to have been built by French prisoners during the Napoleonic wars. This was situated in Yapton Road along the roadside where the entrance to the new village hall is today. The tithe map off 1846 lists the land in the ownership of Barnham Parish, and the tenants were Henry Fisher and George Sanford – presumably living there with their families in two cottages. Later, the building was used for ‘technical classes’ and the parish council thanked the county council ‘for the liberal grant made by them towards the Technical class’. This then was the first meeting place that was not an alehouse. The building was demolished and replaced with a carpark.

Phase II – the corrugated hut

Parish councils were formed under the Local Government Act 1894. In Barnham, E.J. Marshall, the Brighton Grammar School Headmaster newly retired to The Cottage, Church Lane, and W.A. Hounsom, gentleman farmer of Bonhams in Yapton, were two of the founder members of the new civil parish council. The old thatched building may have been suitable for technical classes but E.J. Marshall decided to pay for a new meeting room. This became known incorrectly over the years as ‘The Tin Hut’ but also variously referred to as the Club Room, the Reading Room, and the Recreation Room. At this time so-called ‘Tin Tabernacles’ could be ordered from a catalogue in kit form. They were timber-framed buildings externally clad with galvanised and corrugated iron and lined with quality tongue and groove boarding. By March 1895 the hut was being used for the parish council meetings and it has outlasted its expectations by still standing (just) in 2013.  According to the late Harry Dart the hall was used for Workers’ Educational Association classes and offered a meeting place away from the public house. Mr Howard Rhind, manager of Sunnyside Nurseries (living in 1920 at Ivy Cottage, now Rose Cottage, Yapton Road), organised whist drives, ‘sing songs’ and dances, including the popular Country Dance Club. On the death of E.J. Marshall in 1899 the meeting room was formally presented to the parish.

In 1908 the parish council purchased from Thomas Boreham Borrow a strip of land amounting to one quarter of an acre to the rear (south) of the cottages. The parties involved are named as William Allan Hounsom, Chairman of Barnham Parish Council, John Baker and Richard Collins, and the sum paid was £25. Presumably John Baker, the miller at Barnham Mill, and Richard Collins of Parsonage Farm were also parish councillors. It is said that the extra land was initially used for allotments.

Phase III – a larger hall is built  

By the 1920s the number of villagers wanting to use the hall had increased to the point where a new larger hall was required. The Barnham branch of the Women’s Institute was formed in May 1924 with Mrs H.R. Marshall (daughter-in-law of E.J. Marshall) as the first president. The WI worked hard to raise a large proportion of the cost through fêtes, jumble sales and so on. Their president laid the foundation stone in 1927 and the hall, built by Mr Dart snr, was opened in 1928. The new hall was to the rear of but adjoining the old hut – an odd relationship that necessitated internal steps linking the two. More money was needed to service the Parish Hall Debt Fund and contributions continued to be made by the WI together with the provision of a piano, china and a clock which were made available free of charge for hall users.

By the 1990s it was evident that a larger, multipurpose building was needed in the village with outside space for sports and recreation. Once again, the needs of the villagers had outgrown the hall and the building itself was at the end of its useful life. The village has turned its attention to fundraising and the obtaining of grants and loans. B.L.A.D.E (Barnham Leisure Amenities Development Enterprise) was set up as a charity by the parish council and other interested local people to develop leisure facilities in Barnham, and registered in April 2001. The new facilities opened in May 2013, administered by the Barnham Community Centre Charitable Trust.

In June 2001 West Sussex County Council and Barnham Parish Council entered into a 99 year lease relating to 3.64 hectares of land behind the ‘old hall’ land on which the new hall & recreational facilities were to be built.

In 2013 Barnham Community Centre Charitable Trust was set up to run the new Barnham Community Hall. B.L.A.D.E fundraised for the new hall and field maintenance.

BCCCT AND B.L.A.D.E merged in 2016 and B.L.A.D.E was formally wound up and effectively Barnham Community Trust (BCT) was formed. 

This new charity was responsible for the management and improvement of the new Community Hall and Murrells Field.

Once the two parish councils Barnham and Eastergate combined in 2019 Barnham and Eastergate Community Trust (BECT) was created to managed both Barnham Community Hall and Eastergate Village Hall. This is still the case today and the charity is thriving, financially stable and is creating a wide variety of classes, courses, indoor and outdoor events for enjoyment and social benefits of the wider community of Barnham and Eastergate.