Village Hall Week

Celebrating England’s Village Halls, 20 – 26 January 2020

By Anthony Wood

Scruton’s original Village Institute was an ex-military wooden hut on the corner of Silver Street and Station Road which hosted dances most weekends, alternating with whist and domino drives and the like. By the mid 1960s the Institute was in a poor state of repair and fund raising began to replace it with a permanent structure on the same site.  In 1967 the village school was closed, and this raised the opportunity for the purchase of the building from the trustees of the Coore Estate who owned the freehold.  This was a controversial matter at the time as many of the fundraisers wished to pursue a new purpose built hall rather than a conversion of the school, but the availability of the school and the adjoining house proved to be the critical factor and the Parish Council led on the final purchase.

The Coore Memorial Hall has been home to many activities including Mother & Toddler and Pre-School Groups, Karate Club, Scruton Society, Film Club, Coffee Mornings, Dominoe Drives, Quiz Nights and much more. Over the years, the Management Committee has overseen the upkeep and many improvements to the facilities, and like so many village halls up and down the country, the Coore Memorial Hall remains firmly at the heart of our community life.

There will be more about the story of our village hall at the next Coffee Morning on Sat. 18 January. Come along for a chat with friends and neighbours or get to know more people in the village over a nice cup of tea/coffee (PTO for details).