Frosterley Village Hall & Institute
Frosterley is a small village in Weardale, County Durham. Its village hall opened in 1909 to provide for the leisure needs of the local quarrymen. In the mid-19th century, the population of the village more than trebled with the start of commercial quarrying to extract the limestone deposits that surrounded the village. The Hall was built by the quarrymen, who all contributed a penny a week from their wages towards the cost. The owner of Rogerley Quarry, Valentine Rippon, donated the land for the Hall, while the Darlington Pease family who owned other Frosterley quarries donated the bricks and also helped meet the cost. The Hall belongs to the village and its residents, and is run and maintained for the benefit of the local community. It operates as a charity and is run by a Board of Trustees, all of whom are volunteers.
The Hall is used for a wide range of activities, including craft classes, exercise groups, educational talks, public and community group meetings, live music events, charity fund raisers, choir recitals, weddings, theatre performances, children’s parties, martial arts classes, elections, funerals, snooker and pool, exhibitions and school concerts.
Over the years, as the needs of our community have changed, the Hall has been refurbished and updated. 2021 has seen our latest refurbishment project take place. This is converting a former disused caretaker’s flat on the ground floor and joining it to an existing meeting room at the rear of the Hall to create a more accessible community space. The meeting room is having double bi-fold doors installed which will open on to the Hall’s garden and bathe the new space in natural light.
These improvements have been made possible thanks to funds raised within the community, kind donations, and generous funding from ACRE, the National Lottery, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust, Councillor John Shuttleworth’s AAP Neighbourhood Budget and the Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust.
As and when Covid restrictions permit, the Trustees are doing essential maintenance work, including giving the Hall’s garden a make-over. Many of our regular users have missed the social life that our Hall facilities, and the Trustees are keen to welcome them back!