Berwick St John
Village Hall
Berwick St John has a lovely modern Village Hall with excellent facilities. Highlights include:
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Large main hall
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Fully working stage
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Large projection screen with projector
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Excellent sound system
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Free WiFi
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Fully appointed catering kitchen
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Attached playground
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Rear patio area for outdoor events
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Private car park
See our Facilities page for more details.
The hall is available for anyone to hire and is perfect for family events, community gatherings, off-site training, business meetings and workshops.
A Brief History...
The Land that the hall is built on was gifted to the village in 1929 by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton. Since then there have been three Halls on the site. The second hall was an old Nissen hut and, by the 1970's, it was no longer fit for use. A few of the villagers decided a new hall was needed and got together and raised funds to build a new hall by hosting various fund-raising events. They also applied to the council for a grant but were told that the next village down the valley was getting the money as they were in desperate need of a new hall. Not to be outdone, the story goes that one Sunday morning a group of villagers, equipped with sledgehammers, tractors and ropes, pulled the old hut down and cleared the site leaving just a concrete slab! The Chairman of the Village Hall Committee then called the council the following day and told them that we should have the grant as we no longer had a hall. After some persuasion, the man from the council said he would visit and to his surprise - NO HALL! So we got the grant and the current hall was built.
In 1998 it was decided to refurbish the hall and again the community stepped up to the challenge. We raised enough money from events in the village and various grants to install a new roof, put in a fantastic new kitchen, add extensions on the side for a meeting room, bar and store, and create a patio area and a playground.
The front of the hall and the playground.