Conservation and Celebration: A Century of Serving Our Community as a Parish Hall

East Worlington Parish Hall Trustees have recently secured the support of Heritage Lottery Fund for the project to conserve the Parish Hall and celebrate its role in the community as a community facility for the last 100 years. This is great support from HLF which makes such a difference to the future sustainability of the building and the contribution it makes to community life.

Steve Baber (Project Leader) said: “I was delighted to learn that National Lottery has agreed to support our exciting heritage project which is aimed at conserving our much-loved historic converted tithe barn and celebrating 100 years of its life as a Parish Hall serving the community. In addition to conserving the building the project provides an opportunity for our community and pupils at our local schools, East Worlington Primary School and Chulmleigh Community College to learn about the heritage associate with Hall, share that learning widely and celebrate through exhibitions and events the richness of our community’s history. This is truly an important project for us which engages and enriches the sense of community.”

Nerys Watts, Head of HLF South West, said: “Building on successful conservation work at the village hall, which was also made possible by National Lottery players, we’re pleased to support these plans which will enable people of all ages to celebrate a century of their community heritage.”  

The project outcomes are to:

• Conserve the area of East Worlington Parish Hall that is currently used as a kitchen
• Improve the existing kitchen so it conforms to current catering standards
• Create a 'Good Governance' guidance pack for new trustees, produce documents to share project knowledge and skills and train volunteers
• Create an archive of information about East Worlington Parish Hall
• Work with local schools, develop an exhibition and hold a celebration event to celebrate the Parish Hall's centenary
• Develop a timeline on Worlington Heritage website and add photographs, local recipes, project research and investigations to the site
• Share learning through social media and a blog

Music and Dance - Part of Our Heritage

As part of our Heritage Project we recognised that music and dance is very much a feature of our Devonian heritage and culture. To celebrate this we organised a Barn Dance with country music and dancing. We thought this was very fitting as the Parish Hall was originally a barn and now it is conserved using it for a barn dance helped members of the community appreciate some of the music and dance which is part of our heritage. The Dartmoor Pixie Band came to the Hall and played country music. With the help of a caller, who explained the steps, we where able to join in the dances. An incredibly fun and enjoyable event.
The following photographs provide a record of the event.

EWPH – East Worlington Parish Hall

Heritage Project Group Minutes for May are now online.  Looking forward to the Barn Dance on Saturday!