The building was built in 1857, and opened as a Church of England School in 1863.
When it was closed in the 1970s, local people formed a Charitable Trust with a view to retaining the building as a community resource and focal point. The Diocese of Carlisle retained the freehold on the site and the trust paid an annual rent to them to rent site back from them,
In 1980 it re-opened as a Community Centre. By the main door, there is a plaque installed to commemorate this event which was unveiled by famous local sculptor and artist Josefina de Vasconcellos whose works include Reconciliation ) at Coventry Cathedral and the Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan.
Loss of the Hall
Changing patterns within the community, with a diminishing number of resident households within the parish mean that the Hall usage has steadily declined over the intervening decades. Even before Covid, usage was down, and rent, maintenance and utility costs were rising. In 2021 the Trust Committee came to the reluctant conclusion that there is not enough income from fundraising and regular bookings to justify the substantial long term cost of maintaining the Hall and paying rent to the Diocese of Carlisle.
A new committee took over in 2022 with a view to either re-invigorating Hall usage or, if this failed winding it up in an orderly way and handing the building back to the Diocese.
Throughout 2022-2024 an aggressive, but ultimately unsuccessful campaign was conducted to increase usage and recruit new volunteers, but ultimately this failed to gain the necessary traction to make the hall viable again.
As a result, at the November 2024 AGM the community unanimously agreed to wind up operations and revert the lease to our Landlords.
This concluded on On 22 Dec 2025 when the Hall formally closed and the lease ended on 1st Jan 2026.
Going Forwards
Having handed back the keys to the Diocese of Carlisle, the Trust Committee have no say going forwards on use of the site. We do however hope that the Diocese can be prevailed upon to dispose of or use it in a way that helps to address local housing issues.
