 | A local history and genealogy site for Wimpole, a village and parish in South Cambridgeshire
Curated by Steve Odell
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Wimpole Village Hall
Cambridge Road, Wimpole
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A Brief History (From 1924 to the Present).
A local history and genealogy page for the Parish of Wimpole.
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| Wimpole Village Hall |
| The Village Hall is a Registered Charity (Charity No. 203221) and is administered by the Wimpole Village Hall Management Committee. The 'Charitable Objects' of the Charity are stated as follows: |
| "The provision and Maintenance of a Village Hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Wimpole and the neighbourhood thereof without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes, and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. The said land and building shall be held upon trust for the purposes of a village hall as aforesaid." |
| (Governing Document: Conveyance dated the 10th August 1937. Fully regulating scheme sealed 15 September 1989.) |
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| The First Village Hall (1924-1978) |
| The first Village Hall was built at New Wimpole in 1924. |
| It was a long wooden building on brick supports and with a corrugated iron roof [see image below]. |
| The village hall was situated on what is now the driveway to No 22 Cambridge Road ("The Old School House"). The site was loaned by Lord Clifton but remained part of the Wimpole Estate. |
| The interior comprised "two large rooms and a tiny old fashioned kitchen and toilet." |
| For over 50 years, the old hall was host to many community events, celebrations, family parties and regular public dances at weekends. In later years the building was thought to have became somewhat "shaky", and usage gradually declined to (mainly) the monthly Wimpole Women's Institute meeting and weekly whist drives ("every Monday night at eight o'clock"). |
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The back part of the old Village Hall as seen from the driveway of No 30 Cambridge Road c1978.
The corrugated iron roof has been stripped off so the demolition of the building
had already begun.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Dix (2020) |
 
The original Wimpole Village Hall photographed in February
1977. The building was demolished the following year.
The tree
and railings seen here are still in position today.
(Photograph by Jill Chorley) |
The new Wimpole Village Hall under construction and photographed on the same day in February 1977. The new
building was finished and formally opened in October 1978.
(Photograph by Jill Chorley) |
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| The New Village Hall (1978-Present ) |
| In the mid-1970s the community decided that Wimpole needed a modern Village Hall. Fund-raising began with a target set at £10000 and Mrs Bambridge of Wimpole Hall donated the freehold of the site to the village. |
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Pictured in 1976 are a Mr Burling (from Chishall) apparently doing
some
clearance work and Mrs Kezia Bullen in front of the site for
the
new Village Hall.
(Photograph from the Keith Bullen Collection, 2020) |
| Construction of the new Village Hall began in 1976. To keep costs down, the building was purchased in semi-prefabricated form and it was to be erected by "the men of the village". |
| The local community eventually raised about two-thirds of the estimated £10000 cost of the new village hall through donations, grants and various fund-raising activities in the village. |
| Construction continued slowly throughout 1977 but only progressed as additional funds became available. A loan was eventually taken out to enable the building to be completed internally by late summer in 1978 (the loan was not fully repaid until 1986). |
| Wimpole's new Village Hall was formally opened in October 1978. The first public event was a Celebration Dance, as recorded on the following letter received from Buckingham Palace: |
| Two grants were obtained from South Cambridgeshire District Council in 1986 to (partly) pay for an upgrade to the kitchen and bar area and to install storage heaters in the main hall. |
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| Please contact the website if you have any old photographs, documents or memories of either Wimpole Village Hall that could be added to this page. |
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This page was last updated on: 06 August 2020.
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