About

The Village Hall in West Burton provides a focal point for the activities of the village and surrounding communities, and is a valuable resource for groups and societies requiring a venue for meetings, performances and events.

West Burton Village Hall is run by a team of volunteers including representatives of local community organisations, who, in addition to managing the building, also stage occasional events such as visiting theatre groups, exhibitions and treasure hunts.

The hall provides for many regular users including the local primary school and the Wensleydale Society. Several groups meet here to enjoy bowls, yoga, parent and toddlers, badminton, art, dancing and the West Burton monthly lunch.

The hall is also available for private functions such as birthdays and weddings.

The excellent facilities include a large hall marked out for badminton, with a wooden floor suitable for dancing. There is also a committee room suitable for smaller meetings. A well-equipped kitchen enables the preparation of refreshments and meals.

Please note that as we do not have a car park, visitors are asked to be considerate of the needs of others when parking.

The hall won a Yorkshire Dales National Park award for best non-residential building in 1999, when it was rebuilt after a fire.

The trustees of the hall are currently Gordon Lunt, Richard Nolan, Julie Pledge, Christine Pratt, Margaret Proctor, Jane Ritchie, Sally Sahin, Neil Smeeton, Sally Stone and Rhys Wilson.

MAIN HALL

Length – 17.8m
Width – 7.2m
Capacity – 103 (seated), 206 (standing)

COMMITTEE ROOM

Length – 4.19m
Width – 4.16m

KITCHEN

Length – 4.16m
Width – 3.94m

AMENITIES

• Male, female & disabled toilets
• Baby changing
• Well-equipped kitchen
• Good sound system
• Storage spaces

History of the Hall

The West Burton Village Hall you see today is new, having been rebuilt following a fire and opened in 1999 by Rt. Hon. William Hague MP.

So what was here before?

Today’s village hall is built on the site of the former West Burton Hall which we believe was built in the late 1600s.

Neighbouring the hall to one side is Old Hall Stables, which was built in 1706 right next to the Hall’s east gable. West Burton Hall’s east wall and Old Hall Stables’ west wall were both taken down when the latter was converted from a cow byre into a house. This work revealed an upstairs window in the Hall’s wall which looked down across the village.

As would happen again later in its life, the building on our village hall site burnt down, and the Buckle family, who had built the neighbouring stable block, moved to what is now Flanders Hall.  There is a memorial to Frederick and Elizabeth Buckle in Aysgarth Chuch.

An independent methodist chapel was built on the site of West Burton Hall and when this became redundant, it was used during WW2 as a coal store, run by Len Horner, who lived at Pendennis, a house in the village.

In March 1956, the building was bought by a Miss Carter who lived at Windyridge and given by her to the village.  Miss Carter was related to the Moody  family who farmed in West Burton and Walden for many generations and gave their name to Moody House.

The chapel was converted into a village hall in 1956 after a lot of local fundraising, and was registered as a charity.  In 1997,  the building caught fire because of an electrical fault and burnt down.

It is interesting to note that no traces of cellars were found in the rebuilding excavations.  This may have been because they would have flooded due to the proximity of a well. The well for the original hall is now within Well Cottage’s grounds.