History of Great Easton Village Hall
The ex-railway hut known as the Church Room, although convenient for smaller meetings, it was not the ideal venue for the Loyal Constitution Lodge to hold their meetings. So, in April 1933, when considering the disposal of surplus funds of £190, it was agreed the Lodge would look towards an investment of £140 as the nucleus of a fund for acquiring or building an Oddfellows Hall. This provision in April 1933 was the first indication that the Lodge was thinking about securing its own premises. It was surprising that such a project had never surfaced before, indeed, the Lodge had made no bid for the old Independent Chapel in Caldecott Road which had been sold in 1919 for £5.
Things began to move swiftly. When the Trustees met at the beginning of September 1933, Robert Inchley reported that Tom Mould “was willing to dispose of his Barn and Yard in the Main Street of Great Easton”. The Trustees agreed to find out the terms on which Mr Mould would be willing to sell. No time was wasted and a joint meeting of the Management Committee and the Trustees was held six days later, on Thursday 7th September 1933. It was agreed that the Trustees should go ahead and accept Tom Mould’s offer. The cost was to be £100, with the Oddfellows also meeting Tom Mould’s expenses in connection with the sale.
The building in question was that which is now Great Easton Village Hall on the High Street, Great Easton. It was, as mentioned at the September meeting of the Trustees, a barn or cart shed with two large doors opening on to the yard at the rear. Being very central, it had occasionally been used for village events in the past. Certainly, it was used as the venue for the celebrations of the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. It was thoroughly cleaned out and used to provide teas for the children and a supper for the adults of the village.
After the meeting on 7th September, affairs were put into the hands of the respective solicitors. There is no further mention of the purchase, nor of the subsequent work necessary to enable the building to be used as an Oddfellows Hall. The £140 that had been put on one side would take care of the actual purchase and any related expenses, but there was a considerable amount of work to be carried out to convert the barn into a usable space. The doors had to be altered to bay windows, kitchen and toilet facilities provided, a floor laid, panelling fitted to the walls, fireplaces built and the building decorated throughout. Although the cost of such works would not have been very high, the total of the purchase and conversion must have exceeded £140. However, Oddfellows rules permitted the expenditure of funds on such a project, provided District and National approval was obtained, therefore finance was never a major consideration.
The next mention of the project is not until the end of May 1934, when at a meeting on the 28th, it was agreed to open the new Oddfellows Hall on Saturday June 23rd 1934.
It was going to be a great day. The Grandmaster (the District Chairman) agreed to attend, and it was decided to have a tea, a concert and dancing. The Management Committee agreed that there would be a meat tea at half past four. This would be followed by the usual speeches and then a concert and dancing later. Tea would cost 1s 6d (children half price) and the dancing 1s, tickets to be purchased by the Saturday before the grand opening.
It appears that the sale of tickets did not go well. After all, the Depression still hung over the country and 1s 6d was quite expensive for that time. For a husband and wife and two children it meant an expenditure of 4s 6d and on a weekly wage of £2 10s, this was probably a tenth of the family’s net income. The “Opening Committee” appreciated this, substituted a “plain tea” for the meat tea and reduced the charge to 1/-.
Though the conversion of the barn had been completed and a small amount of furniture purchased, there was insufficient for a full-scale effort like a grand opening. The Opening Committee therefore determined to borrow crockery, tables, and tea urns from the Church Room, (the Methodist Chapel, the Women’s Institute and Mr Stanton, the landlord of The Sun.
The programme was now fixed. Mr E Clarke, the Grandmaster, would open the Hall at 4 o’clock. The tea would follow at half past and then there would be the speeches.
First, Brother Inchley (one of the Trustees) introduced the main speaker, the Grandmaster. After him was the Corresponding Secretary who proposed the health of Great Easton Lodge, to which the Lodge Secretary replied. Fortunately, those present did not have an indigestible fare of four lengthy speeches, one after the other, because records state that these were “interspersed with items by the orchestra”. The mysterious orchestra is not identified but dancing started at eight o’clock and presumably went on until it was dark, providing it had been possible to borrow enough oil lamps, for there was yet no lighting in the hall.
Everything must have passed off without a hitch, because when a new “Hall Committee” met five days later, it was resolved to send letters of thanks to all concerned, including a Concert Party not previously mentioned. A profit of around £7 was made. This was quite a considerable sum, so the numbers attending the “plain tea” and the dancing must have been higher than initially expected.
The Oddfellows now found that having their own hall brought difficulties in its train. Almost immediately the organisers of the annual Flower Show asked for use of the hall for the show, with dancing afterwards. This was agreed for the sum of £4. This made the Lodge realise that it would be necessary to have a letting sub-committee, because quite clearly, the hall would be in demand for village events.
It also raised as a matter of urgency the question of lighting. Events held in late June were no problem, but winter would come all too soon and “Brother Inchley was asked to go into the question of (acquiring) second hand lamps”. Oil lamps, because at this time electricity had not reached the village.
There were several minor decisions to be made on the use of the hall, to match the needs of a village that required a venue for events which could not conveniently be held in the Church Room. One of the first such decisions was that the hall could be used free for “religious purposes”. If hired by “outsiders” for a dance, the charge would be 30 shillings. It is assumed that this refers to organisers from outside the village rather than outside the Oddfellows.
Naturally enough the Hall Committee soon found that there were other necessaries and as early as November 1934, they were discussing the provision of crockery, glasses and an urn. It also became apparent that there was a need for someone to oversee the Hall and to look after it. Eventually Mr H.L. Wright was appointed Caretaker. His remuneration was 4 shillings every time the hall was used, but only 2 shillings if the small room was used. The latter presumably refers to the present kitchen space. This may seem poor pay, but by the standards of the day it was not unreasonable.
There was more price fixing for hiring of the hall:
for a Women’s Social 12 shillings
for a Concert in aid of Nursing 12 shillings
for a political meeting 15 shillings
for a dance £1 up to midnight and extra after that hour
The Oddfellows themselves organised some of the village dances and of course, there was always live music events, usually a four- or a five-piece combination. The names of the “bands” have a period flavour: the Broadway Syncopators, the Ambassadors, the Savannah, and W. Stafford’s Band.
Around this time the Lodge, and no doubt the rest of the village, recorded their concerns about the fact that there was no longer a doctor’s surgery in the village. Dr Blackstock, the village doctor, had his surgery at Middleton, across the valley. The Oddfellows found it unsatisfactory that there was only one doctor in Great Easton. They considered the Hall might become an option for another surgery.
Electric lighting in the Oddfellows Hall became an essential. Oil lamps had never been very satisfactory. It was agreed to have eight lights in the main body of the hall with four switches. Lights in the kitchen, the passage, the cloakrooms and the yard were all controlled from the kitchen.
There are no membership records available for this period, but active members were not numerous. The officerships rotated among a limited number of individuals. It is probable that membership of the Lodge and Order had generally declined, because in August 1936 the District was sufficiently worried about the trend to send out a circular on recruitment and the Lodge agreed that “each member present should endeavour to introduce at least one new member at next Quarter Night”. Contrary to expectations, the campaign met with limited success because during the next 12 months eight new members were admitted to the Lodge.
But 1936 was noteworthy for reasons other than mere recruitment. At the November Lodge meeting, the Secretary was instructed to call a “Summoned Meeting” for early December “to consider the admission of Females to the Lodge”. At this meeting, the minutes contain the laconic statement “Resolved that Females be admitted to the Lodge”. It was not until the passing of the National Health Insurance Act in 1924 that women were entitled, as insured persons, to be admitted to and become members of formerly male lodges, provided the district and individual lodge agreed.
The first woman to be admitted to the Great Easton Lodge was Edith Mitchell, who was accepted the following May (1937) and three months later, she was joined by Mabel Grace Fell.
By May 1939 it had become clear to all that war was inevitable and the national headquarters urged duplication of all Lodge records. Whilst necessary in towns and cities this was not quite so obvious a requirement in a country village.
In September 1939 when War started the Lodge was not immediately affected. In November 1939 the Secretary drew attention to the financial affairs of the hall and a meeting of the Hall Committee was arranged. It can be assumed from the notes that the financial affairs of the hall were not healthy. The hall was not paying its way and the Lodge was beginning to realise it had tied a millstone around its neck. However, the hall managed to keep going during the war years.
In September 1943 the state of the piano in the hall was giving concern and it was agreed to have it overhauled and tuned. It is unclear whether this was successful, however in June 1944, just before D-Day, it was agreed to buy a new piano.
There is reference at the very end of the war in March 1945, to a request for a reduction in hire charges for the Hall, so a dance for the benefit of people serving in the Armed Forces could be held. This was turned down as it was felt it might set a precedent.
After the War the hall experienced difficulties in the search for caretakers. The post became vacant at frequent intervals and rarely, if ever, were any replies received in response to advertisements. However, the Hall Committee usually found someone to do the job.
The introduction of the Health Service in 1948 had its effect on membership of the Oddfellows, particularly in rural Lodges. It was therefore decided that smaller Lodges should amalgamate. Stamford District, which had cared for the affairs of ten small village Lodges in this area for over 100 years found itself amalgamated with Oundle, Peterborough and Spalding District and became collectively known as the Nene & Welland District.
The year 1952 saw several expenses in connection with the Oddfellows Hall. Two large “Courtier” solid fuel heaters were installed to boost the heating. Exactly what had been used before is not recorded. A new copper was bought – presumably used for heating water for making tea and washing up. Finally, Harry Brown the carpenter was asked to repair the lock on the door into the hall and repair any chairs which need fixing. This was regarded as “tinkering”, simply to keep the hall usable.
The Lodge meeting in December 1953 records the hall to be in financial crisis. £70 was transferred from the Management Fund to cover its financial obligations. The minutes record “It was realised by the meeting that the position had become serious”. The meeting was told that “certain organisations in the village have withdrawn their custom from the Hall to the Church Room” and that the Hall was only required “when the Church Room was too small for the event”. It is possible the Oddfellows may have started charging too much for the hire of the hall, to improve their funds.
The decision was reached to close the hall completely on 31st December 1953. The Parish Council would be approached to see if they wished to purchase or lease the hall for the village, if not, then it would be sold. An amendment was agreed to allow the use of the hall for the Children’s Christmas Party at the end of 1953 but noted that would be the last time it would be used.
This decision had immediate reverberations throughout the village. Although organisations may not have been using the hall, it was recognised as a valuable resource for Great Easton events.
A Parish Council meeting was called for 22nd December 1953 chaired by W.J. Lount. The meeting was not well attended but nevertheless went ahead. The Parish Council were urged to firstly rent the hall from the Oddfellows and ultimately purchase it from them for the benefit of the village.
A further meeting was held a week later, only two days before the official closure date. George Stanger, senior Trustee of the Lodge, suggested that the Parish Council rent the hall for a year, at a cost of £25. Meanwhile, the asking price for the purchase of the hall was set at £650. The Parish Council also noted that £50 would be needed on decoration/repairs etc., therefore the total cost of buying the hall would amount to £700.
The outcome of this meeting was relayed to the residents of Great Easton on 14th January 1954. Gathered in the Church Room on Lount’s Crescent, the village representative on the Harborough Rural District Council commented on the financial position the village hall was facing and how the purchase might proceed. The view was that that a 30-year loan at 4% could probably be obtained.
Mr W Ryland proposed that the hall be rented for a year at the cost of £25 and that a committee be formed to consider the purchase of the hall for the village. This was seconded by the Vicar, Rev L Crutchley and carried, with only one dissentient.
It was proposed by Mr G Florence that another public meeting should be scheduled for the second week in November 1954 to discuss the purchase, or sale, of the village hall at the end of the rental period. During 1954, the Parish Council would continue to negotiate around the terms of purchase, avoiding where feasible not to buy the hall, or at least make sure it was bought as cheaply as possible. At the end of the year, the Oddfellows rejected out of hand a proposal that the hall should continue to be rented. The Lodge wanted rid of the hall.
The public meeting was held on 4th November 1954, earlier than scheduled. Two options for raising the money were put forward. The first was to borrow from a bank, where several trustees from the public would be required. The second option was to borrow from The Public Works Loan Board, with the Parish Council becoming trustees. The latter option was the cheapest. A motion to take steps to purchase the Oddfellows Hall at the price of £650 was carried by 31 votes to nil.
The situation had not changed since December 1953. Despite the resolution, progress was slow. In October 1955 negotiations over the loan were still going on. Legal costs were growing and had not been factored into the loan. It is unclear how these were eventually paid, however the land was estimated to be £104 and the building £571, based on the District Valuers assessment.
By January 1956 the Parish Council was informed that the Public Works Loan Board had approved the loan. The actual date of completion of sale is not available, but believed to be sometime between January and August 1956, just under three years after the Oddfellows decided to close the hall.
As a final point, the hall continued to be called Oddfellows Hall until June 1957, and the Village Hall thereafter.