Sampford Courtenay Village Hall
Sampford Courtenay Village Hall
THE VILLAGE HALL IS ‘THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY’ AND IT IS THE COMMUNITY THAT MAKE THE HALL GREAT AND BRING IT TO LIFE.
Sampford Courtenay Village Hall was once the Village School. In 1952, Devon County Council decided to close the school owing to falling numbers on roll, and a group of local residents clubbed together to buy the building and place it in Trust “to provide recreational and mental development, entertainment or otherwise as may be found expedient for the benefit of the inhabitants of Sampford Courtenay and Honeychurch in the County of Devon and its immediate vicinity”. We rely on volunteers to run the events and do not have any paid staff or committee members
Architecturally it is a fine example of a Victorian School House and the exterior is very little changed from when it was first erected. Over the years, care has been taken in maintenance to match brick work, painting, and replacement roof tiles, and where this has not been possible, materials used have remained sympathetic to the origin of the Hall. Internally, the building has been modernised and extended and the partition between the two original classrooms has been removed to allow for one large hall space, but the origins of the old school are still clear. The original entrance doorways still hold the decoration of the old school entrances and the roof space is still open to the rafters. The fire surrounds from the old classrooms are still visible and the large high small paned windows remain at either end of the building. At present, the building consists of a main hall, a smaller meeting room and an extensive well-equipped kitchen. It has served the village well over the years and we hope it will continue to do so for many years to come.
In more ‘normal’ times, typical events throughout the year would include monthly music evenings (jazz, folk music, blues, rock bands, modern contemporary etc.), Christmas and Easter Bingo sessions, a dog show and car boot sale, the annual flower and produce show, several quiz evenings (with homemade puddings on offer between rounds as an added incentive!), inter-village skittles matches, a Big Breakfast morning and a wine tasting evening. The hall is also available for hire to local people/groups for weddings, christenings, children’s parties, meetings etc. We have badminton and table tennis equipment for hire by parishioners and hold tap dance classes during the day. Recently, we have extended these activities by holding a series of illustrated talks by local dignitaries and introducing beetle drives, family shows during school holidays and generally responding to requests from our community wherever we can.
However, as for many villages up and down the country, these past twelve months have been very difficult. The Covid19 epidemic, which shut down the whole nation and led to the compulsory closure of our Hall, has brought many challenges, both financial and social. We have seen great changes to life in our Village. With no Hall available during lockdown, some of our activities have managed to move on-line to the Village website, but for those living in areas with little or patchy internet connection, it has been a lonely time. However, villagers have done what they can to keep going and thank goodness for Zoom! We have held on-line coffee mornings and quizzes, organized village trails and a cream tea delivery service, set up bring and buy plant stalls and recently organized a book borrowing service from the main square.
Our main difficulty throughout this pandemic has been the deterioration of the Village Hall roof. In January 2020, we were all set to start a big fund-raising push to raise the £150 000 we need to get the roof replaced, but lockdown put a stop to that. However, we do not despair and with the New Year, we have new hope and are busy organizing the launch of a Massive “RoofUs “ appeal so that with a little help from our friends, we can continue the life of this amazing building and see our village equipped with its hall in good repair well into the next decade.