Buckland Dinham Village Hall

Our village hall was built at the sole expense of the Rev. Henry Clutterbuck in 1882. Originally designed as a Coffee House and Reading Rooms, the hall was split into two parts: a private dwelling place for the manager and his family, and a public area consisting of the coffee room and a spacious room for readings and for “entertainments”. The Church Hall (as it was known at that time) was enlarged by public subscription in 1924 with an extension to the reading room which gave the building a room large enough to support amateur dramatics in the village.

The hall has been owned by various groups since it was built: originally gifted to Russell Duckworth to create a recreational place for the village, the Duckworth family gifted it to the Diocese of Bath and Wells in 1915. In 1978, a few years after the last live in manager retired, the “Trustee Ownership” was transferred to the Parish Council, and in 1981 it was transferred to the Charity Commission.

Although the Village Hall played a very important part in the social life of Buckland Dinham for more than a century, and was the venue for many of the important celebrations of the 20th Century, by the 1980’s it was in a very poor state of repair, and matters came to a head when a meeting was called to discuss the fate of the hall. After many ideas were discussed (including selling the hall and building a brand new one elsewhere) it was decided that a committee be set up to oversee firstly the renovation and refurbishment, and then the maintenance of the hall, and the hall was effectively saved.

Buckland Dinham Village Hall is now put to more varied use than it was originally intended for - no longer simply a coffee house and reading rooms, it is now the regular venue for a parent and toddler group, short mat bowls, the WI and a monthly luncheon group, in addition to private hire by members of the public - but it still fulfils the original role intended by the Rev Clutterbuck as a place open to all the residents of the village.

The Buckland Dinham Village Hall Management Committee has organised many events in the past to raise the profile of the hall and to generate funds for the maintenance and ongoing improvements. These have included Barn Dances, Quiz Evenings, Story Telling, Dinner Dances, and a great variety of musical concerts ranging from Trad Jazz to Appalachian clog dancing.

Your very well equipped and spacious hall can be hired for private parties at a rate of £8 per hour. There are also two cosy upstairs rooms for hire at £5 each per hour. Contact David & Susie Hicks Tel: 01373464156 or email: fshicks@btinternet.com to book the hall