The
Parish Hall is a memorial to the Reverend C.J. Lambard, a former
Rector of Ash who died in 1909, and in whose family the gift of
the living has remained for well over 200 years. This Rector was
greatly beloved. He was known as the "sporting parson"
who carried a gun and rode to hounds, and who was a father to his
Parishioners. His sisters were likewise benevolent, and would
distribute cans of hot soup to the needy in cold weather. When the
two sisters and their brother went out walking, village lads would
bow and village lasses curtsey to them.
To this well loved rector it was decided to erect a
memorial. A committee was formed including the Reverend Harold
Barclay Hennell, Rector of Ridley and afterwards of Ash also, and
Mr George Day then Chairman of the Parish Council. A fund was
started to which the villagers and friends responded with
enthusiasm and it was it was only a matter of time before the
Village Hall came into being, and the choice which as a memorial
won universal approbation.
It was opened by Miss Lambard, the late Rector’s
sister on February 8th 1910.
Soon after opening
Over
the door of the Hall is the following inscription:-
"to the Glory of God, and the
memory
of the Reverend Jas. Lambard,
Rector
of this Parish from
1904-1909, this hall
is dedicated for the use of
Church and
Christ in this Parish" |
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After the erection of the War Memorial
The
cloakroom was added about twenty years later as a memorial to Mr
Aveling (see "Pettings Court"), who had been a great
benefactor to the Village and had died in the Village Hall while
presiding over a meeting of the Nursing Association.
For a time good use was made of the hall as a centre
of entertainment and recreation. In the autumn of 1919 Mr Harold
F. Day formed a committee to start a football club, this developed
into a Young Men's Club, meeting five nights a week and catering
for whist drives, concerts, billiards, chess, draughts, darts etc.
As time went on enthusiasm waned. Organisations came
into being, flourished for a period and then faded and died.
Management Committees found it difficult to raise sufficient money
for the overheads and to keep the hall in good repair.
In 1938 Mr G.E. Leavey, then living in South Ash
Manor, had the hall re-decorated, installed electricity and gave a
table-tennis table, also stage and window curtains. At the same
time a billiards table was installed and paid for out of funds.
A new Management Committee was formed with Mr H.B.
Nicholls as Chairman, Mr F. Goodwin as Honorary Treasurer and Mr
W. Simmons as Honorary Secretary. Other members of the Committee
were Mrs D.C. Meager and Mrs W. Simmons. |