Penn Street Village Hall

We know from a newspaper article that appeared in The Bucks Examiner September 1928 that the original hall was declared open on Wednesday 26^th September by Lady Burgoyne wife of Sir Alan Burgoyne MP for Aylesbury. She performed the opening ceremony in the company of Earl Howe, Lady Edith Franklin, the Reverend A. Browning (former vicar of Penn Street), the Reverend E. M. Davies (the new vicar) and Messrs Alfred and Cecil Hearne who were secretary and treasurer of the hall committee. The article goes on to tell us that it was in 1919 that Mr Browning first voiced the suggestion of a village hall and that by means of collections and entertainments organised by the villagers a constant stream of money had flowed in.

A villager at the time, Mrs Alice Timms, kept a diary recording such events and we have an entry dated November 1923 which shows how the matter was progressing.

“There is a movement on foot to set up a Village Hall in Penn Street and Lord Howe has most kindly offered us a site for this purpose on the edge of the wood adjoining the green.  The hall will thus be available for use as a cricket pavilion in the summer as well as a clubroom and place for entertainments and meetings in the winter. Steps are being taken to obtain an Army Hut and we hope shortly to come to some definite decision and lay the proposal before a general meeting”.

Alice was meticulous with the detail in her record keeping and the description of the proposed site would suggest a different location to the one we now have. The ordnance maps of the time show that the plot of land now occupied by the hall and Two gates was in fact within the curtilage of Forge House.

We know from her records that the villagers needed to raise the necessary funds :

February 1924 : “A wonderful entertainment organised entirely by children was given in the Penn Street School. On December 28th and 29^th the performers were O& K Stevens, V & F Smith, M & C Hearne, A & E Hatt and G.Nieles and Miss G.Hearne played the piano. There were seven little plays given besides recitations, pianoforte duets and solos and dances. There was a crowded  audience on the first night and quite a good one on the second and the result enriched the funds for the Village Hall by no less than £7.

Great praise is due to the enterprise of our young friends and their promising abilities lead us to expect great things from them when the Village Hall is actually built”.

The fundraising continued and on the 26^th June 1926 a Village Fete was held at Penn House. The programme lists country dancing, recitations and sport amongst the afternoon’s activities with dancing on the lawn to the Crotchets Jazz Band. In 1927 Sir Alan and Lady Burgoyne held a fete at their home in Beamond End raising a further £146 towards the £800 needed for the construction of the new hall.

Building commenced in 1928 by Messrs George Biggs and Sons of Great Kingshill providing a main hall with stage, kitchen, offices and dressing rooms at the rear.

In January 1929 a conveyance between The Right Honourable Richard George Penn Earl Howe, Guardian Assurance Company Limited, Reverend Ernest Montague Davies and Alfred Hearne released and extinguished the land from mortgage and was to be held in Trust in perpetuity under the name of Penn Street Village Hall.

The hall burnt down on the 30^th July 1948. During WW2 the hall had played an important role in entertaining the troops with concerts and dances.

So for the second time funds needed to be sourced for a replacement hall. In 1953 after obtaining planning consent the villagers acquired an ex MOD hut at a cost of £4,000 which Lady Curzon opened on the 24^th October. In 1955 a small kitchen extension was added and in 1982 a further extension was built to provide improved toilets and showers for the cricket club.