The Covington Village Hall Restoration Project.
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Now and Then
Information for Hirers
Leaflet
Information for Hirers
Lettings Leaflet
Hiring Agreement
The History of the Village Hall.
The Village Hall is the centrepiece of secular life
in the village. It started out as the village school,
being built by public subscription in 1876, although
it was later "Nationalised" and eventually came under the
control of the Huntingdonshire District Council.
The school closed its doors in 1949, the building becoming the village hall. The hall then became the home of the Covington and Tilbrook Women's Institute and the Village Social Club.
In the late 1990s, it became obvious that unless something was done to arrest the decay of the hall it would become uneconomic to repair and the village would lose a vital asset.
Village Hall Refurbishment Time-Line
1994-95
Initial discussions on possible rehabilitation of Old School as a Village Hall
1995
Covington Parish Meeting agrees the setting up of a Group to develop a proposal for the Hall.
1996
Parish Meeting approves the establishment of a separate charitable body, which members elected by local residents, to hold and manage the Hall, and to apply for a long lease from the Country Council.
1997
Covington Amenities Committee set up as a Registered Charity (Number: 1061113 )
2000
After long negotiations, planning permission is granted and a 99-year lease is granted to the Amenities Committee by the County Council.
2001-02
The hall goes into use after Phase 1 of the building work is completed, including the structure of the Hall, the floor, plumbing, electrics, toilets and structural work on the kitchen. View the Plans or Download a PDF of the plans (this works best for users of Internet Explorer as it seems it won't (or can't) display the main blueprint picture).
2003-2005
Kitchen fitted out, main equipment purchased or donated, terrace (stage) and hard standing completed.2003 Newsletter
2005-2006
The chimmney has now been rebuilt and is now safe again.
September 2008
We have now almost finished the construction of the store.
Main jobs remaining
Rebuilding the boundary wall.
Particular thanks go to:
- Huntingdonshire District Council for their grant of £20 000 and also their contribution to the cost of the hard standing.
- Individual donors who's contributions, with Gift Aid, amounted to some £12 000.
- Covington Parish Meeting for their generous ongoing financial and moral support throughout the whole project.
- All who helped the project by gifts in kind, free labour and the organisation of fund raising events.
- David Hackney for the unfailingly high quality of his building work.