History/our story – Wighton Village Hall

HISTORY / OUR STORY

Wighton Village Hall timeline

August 3rd 1879	St Nicholas Church, Wells struck by lightning and virtually demolished.
September 1879	An ‘Iron church’ was purchased from Boulton & Paul of Norwich and placed on the school playground.
April 17th 1883	The rebuilt St Nicholas church was opened and the ‘iron church’ became used as a temporary classroom until an extension to the school was built and it became redundant prior to being purchased by Wighton village.
February 1929	Village Recreation Hut committee formed.
August 7^th 1929	A garden fete raised £115 10s 8d for a hut.
October 10^th 1929	Committee agreed to approach Lord Leicester re a suitable piece of land for a hut.
January 1930	Tenders for building a hut were invited but none were received.
Feb 4^th 1930	The 3^rd Earl of Leicester offered the committee a suitable location at a nominal rent of 1 shilling per year.
July 3^rd 1930	Committee accepted Lord Leicester’s offer and agreed to purchase the mobile classroom at Wells school from the Norfolk Education Committee for £100.
July 28^th 1930	Two tenders were received for the removal and re-erection of the hut, and Mr Caxton of Wells was awarded the contract.
Oct 6^th 1930	A loan of £100 was secured from the National Council of Leisure, bringing total funds to £300 which allowed the committee to buy, move and equip the hut.
Dec 18^th 1930	The Recreation hut opened with a whist drive and dance.
Sept 21^st 1937	Committee decides to install electric lighting.
June 5^th 1951	Hut ownership clarified by trust deed: owned by village and invested in official trustee of charities.
	Recommendation by charity advisor to approach Holkham Estates about land ownership so that trust deed could cover land and buildings.
Feb 12^th 1952	The 5^th Earl of Leicester indicates he is amenable to an approach re tenure of the land.
April 3^rd 1952	Lord Leicester agrees to gift the land to the trustees of the Hut charity in a letter signed by the secretary to the Holkham Estates, F. Sydney Turner. This stipulates that the hut must be administered as a charitable trust.
Oct 27^th 1952	Conveyance of the land signed by the 5^th Earl and other trustees of the Holkham Estates and by two trustees of the Recreation Hut.
	A charitable trust deed covering both land and building was subsequently set up for the administration of the Recreational Hut Charity.
August 6^th 2018	George Brett-Reynolds chaired a meeting which agreed to canvass opinion on replacing the aging hall. A questionnaire was circulated to all villagers with a return date of September 1^st.
September 26^th 2018	An Open village meeting was called by George Brett-Reynolds (representing the village hall committee) and Sophie Trend (representing the Parish Council) to announce the results of the questionnaire. There was a large majority in favour of a new village hall.
November 29^th 2018	A steering committee was formed under George Brett-Reynolds’s chairmanship.
August 29^th 2019	An initial award of £100,000 was confirmed by the Goldcrest Charitable Trust.
October 25^th 2021	A decision to increase the Goldcrest award to £500,000 was confirmed.
November 1^st 2021	The ‘Buy a brick’ fundraising scheme was launched. It was agreed to list all individual donors in a ‘book of honour’, in the order in which they donated.
November 21^st 2021	After receiving tenders, the group decided on Grocott & Murfit to design and build the new hall.
January 17^th 2022	HMRC recognised the Recreation Hut Charity for Gift Aid purposes.
February 5^th 2022	The village said farewell to the old hut with a last dance to the Fakenham Ukulele Band.
April 2022	Planning permission granted subject to conditions.
June 13^th 2022	Old ‘recreation hut’ demolished.
August 2002	Start to the building project delayed by Historic England archaeological survey.
November 2022	The 8^th Earl of Leicester agrees to donate an additional strip of land for the greater footprint of the new hall.
December 2^nd 2022	The contract with Grocott & Murfit was signed by George Brett-Reynolds and Graham Polson.
January 4^th 2023	Building work commences.
May 3^rd 2023	Grant of £10,000 received from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
May 12^th 2023	Norfolk Community Foundation awarded a grant of £18165 from the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund. This was to fund solar panels and Battery storage.
July 1^st 2023	Land transfer document signed for Recreation Hut trustees by George Brett-Reynolds and Graham Able.
July 19^th 2023	A further donation of £130,000 received from the Goldcrest Charitable Trust.
August 1^st 2023	Grant of £13,972 received from NN Sustainable Communities Fund, part paid by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, for equipping kitchen.
October 2023	The Friends of Wighton Village Hall is launched to help defray running costs.
October 6^th 2023	The new hall is handed over to the Trustees from Grocott and Murfit.
October 28^th 2023	The opening of the new hall by Julie and Neil Dyson, Trustees of the Goldcrest Charitable Trust. The Fakenham Ukulele Band plays the inaugural dance in the new hall.
October 29th 2023	The Earl and Countess of Leicester unveil a plaque commemorating the land gifts.