Lelant village hall

©Maxwell Adams 2004, 19 May 2021

The village hall is a former chapel in Fore Street. A map made in 1820 by Mundy (and copied by Rutger in 1832) shows a preaching house where the present village hall is (RIC HJ 5/4,1). The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel on the site until 1834 when they moved to a new chapel built for them in the village and the Primitive Methodists took this one over.The foundation stone for the present building was laid on 31 May 1859 and the building opened as a Primitive Methodist Chapel on 15 December 1859. The builders were Almond Hocking and Company. The chapel closed in 1909.

In 1902 a gallery was removed as unsafe.

From 1909 the building was owned by the Tyringham estate and seems to have been used as a public place. It became the parish hall: "The old Primitive Methodist Chapel...is being restored, and will on December 20 be reopened as the Parish Hall" (Cornishman 12 December 1912). On the 1920 map drawn up for the sale of Tyringham property in Lelant it is marked as "parish hall". A report of St Uny's church council refers to a financial account for the "parish hall" ( St Ives Weekly Summary 1 March 1917).

On 30 January 1924 the building was formally, and with no payment by villagers, turned into a village hall by the agreement of Roger William Giffard TYRINGHAM of Trevethoe and the "settlement trustees" who were Lionel Dixon BROWN, Reginald SKIPWITH, and Ernest Edward SAINT QUINTIN. Trustees for the hall were appointed: Arthur Greig CHAPMAN, the vicar; Thomas Reginald GRYLLS; Frederick McIvor BASSETT; Thomas Bridges HUGHES; and Giffard Loftus TYRINGHAM.

1966 renovations

In April 1966 renovations to the hall began and they were finished in October that year. They cost 3675 pounds (in 1966 money) raised from the Council of Social Service of the national ministry of education (1535 pounds), St Ives borough council (750 pounds), and gifts and efforts (1390 pounds). The village hall was reopened on 17 November 1966.

People involved in the 1966 renovation were:
Mrs Edna White of Riverside, Lelant, chair of the village hall management committee
James Presswood of 1 Riverside, Lelant, secretary of the village hall management committee
Derek Harvey of Raventor, Lelant, treasurer of the village hall management committee
Committee members: Mr Rostron, Mr Bowers, Mrs Margaret Jennings, Mrs Bowers, Mrs Harvey, Mrs Olds, and Mrs Dorothy Meade
Surveyor: Mr Land
Architect: Mr Gilbert
Builder: Charles Burrows of Carbis Bay
Plumber: Mr Olds
South West Electricity Board.

Following these renovations a charity scheme was drawn up by the charity commission for the hall dated 9 January 1967. This set out the way the hall was to be managed by a committee elected by villagers.

1990s renovations

The annual general meeting of the hall on 5 March 1996 agreed that a development plan should be drawn up and the management committee on the same 5 March appointed a working party of its members to do this. Substantial work had already been done on a scheme for repairs to the hall.

The plan drawn up by the working party was agreed by the management committee at a meeting on 4 June 1996. The total cost of improvements was about 21 000 pounds. They included a lavatory for disabled people, a new central heating boiler, reroofing the passageway, and repointing an outside rear wall, a new floor and the refurbishment of the downstairs rooms. Funding for the improvements was sought from various sources. A lottery grant of 5000 pounds was given in 1997 (St Ives Times and Echo 8 August 1997) and from Penwith district council a grant of over 2000 pounds. Villagers also raised money and made donations and further national grants were given. Progress reports appeared in the St Ives Times and Echo 25 February 1997 and the Cornishman 6 March 1997.

2018 renovations

In 2018 the village hall had extensive renovations: a new floor, new kitchen,and redecorated store rooms, meeting room, and lavatories.

The village hall displays the 2000 millennium tapestry made by villagers (see on this website The millennium tapestry) and a quilted panel also made by villagers.

See the website of the Charity Commission for administrative details on Lelant Village Hall, including recent income and expenditure. Its charity number is 300561.

Sources

PROBERT JCC Primitive Methodism in Cornwall (undated) Copy at RIC

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