However, on the 17th June 1946 written minutes of Redwick Village Hall Committee record a meeting at Redwick School to arrange the annual Tea and Sports.   At that meeting, a fund to secure a Parish Hall for Redwick was started.

 

On the 26th January 1948 the minutes record that Mrs Laura Prosser of The Rose Inn, Redwick offered the Village Hall Committee a piece of land opposite the school for the princely sum of £115.00. The committee agreed to purchase this piece of land and also had discussions about the type of hall that would be built.

 

Mrs Prosser died on the 11th September 1948 before the land was conveyed and the land passed to her husband William Reginald Prosser.   Fortunately, an agreement dated the 3rd February 1948 had been made between Mrs Prosser and the Hall Trustees with the Trustees paying a deposit of £25.00.

 

Mrs Prosser didn't leave a Will and Letters of Administration were granted out of the Llandaff District Probate Registry to Mr Prosser on the 13th October 1948.  Mr Prosser then transferred the land to the Hall Trustees on the 20th May 1948.   The Trustees named in the 20th May 1948 conveyance were Frederick Howard James and Caradoc William Arthur.

 

The land transferred was described as 'All that piece or parcel of land situate at Redwick aforesaid containing one rood and nineteen perches or thereabouts being Enclosure numbered 437 on the Ordnance Survey Map (1920 Edition) for the said Parish.'

 

The Conveyance of the 20th May 1948 is the Governing Document of the Village Hall.   It states that the Trustees must apply forthwith to the Charity Commission for an Order vesting the Trust Premises in the Official Trustee of Charity Lands.   It also states that upon the vesting the existing Trustees of the Trust premises, shall cease to exist and the Charity (the Village Hall) shall be administered and managed by Members for the time being of the Committee of Management.

 

In 1948 Conveyance, it was proposed that the Management Committee would comprise of not more than thirty members.  Those thirty members to be elected at the First Annual General Meeting.   The Conveyance also states that the organisations mentioned in the Second Schedule of the Conveyance have the right to appoint one member of the Committee at the first and every other Annual General Meeting.  These organisations were and are:

 

Church - Reverend J.E. Clayton Evans

Baptist Chapel - Mr W.H. Parker

Parish Council - Mr George Bennett

School Managers - Mr E.E. Waters

Women's Institute - Mrs Cowles

Sport - Mr W.H. Rees

Young Farmer's Club - Mr Herbert James

Youth Club - Mrs Ayliffe.

 

The Conveyance stipulates that an Annual General meeting should be held in April each year giving the residents of Redwick one week's notice of that meeting where everyone over the age of eighteen of either sex has the opportunity of studying the accounts and reports of the Management Committee.   The document also states that the Management Committee must retire and be re-elected each year.

 

The Conveyance also stipulates that Hall shall be used 'for the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation and social moral and intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms, library lectures classes recreations and entertainment or otherwise as may be found expedient for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Redwick without distinction of sex or of political, religious and other opinions'.

 

Following the purchase of the land, many village events were held to raise the necessary funds to build the hall. These included dances, whist drives, sports days and donations. A substantial contribution to the cost of the hall was provided by the Council of Social Service (£2,080.00) with the Hall Committee providing a further £1,020. The total cost of the building was £3,100.00 plus the land.

 

The Hall Committee during this period included F. Howard James JP, Mesdames Nind, Cowles, Bassett, Hy Jones, W. Payne, Stan Jones, W. Coles and A. Phillips, Reverend J. Clayton Evans, Messrs E.E. Waters, P.R. Anstey, Hubert Jones, Arthur Phillips. W. Christopher, W. Payne, Stan Monk, H. Attewell and C.W. Arthur. These are just some of the many people who worked tirelessly to ensure the original Village Hall was built.

 

Due to the shortage of building materials and labour after the war, it was agreed that the Village would erect what was known as a ‘temporary village hall’. It is also recorded that the Vicar offered the stone and mason from Church House.

 

Accordingly, a Mr Venn was instructed as main builder with local men offering their labour. The local men who volunteered were Mr W.L. Payne who was appointed Clerk of Works and was ably assisted by E. James, W. Payne, S. Monk, S. Jones, Hubert Jones, I. Weston and W. Christopher.

 

After many trials and tribulations and extraordinary offers of help, the Village Hall was finally opened on the 18th August 1949 by Sir William James Thomas.

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Deconstruction of the First Hall

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