Stop 1: The Parish Hall-Information
The Small Hall was built in about 1898 to house the “The Institute of Science, Technology and Art”. It was founded by a group of local businessmen with the primary aim of educating young adults in such skills as Woodworking and Cookery. It had a short life but was still occasionally used for this purpose until 1910. If you look in the brickwork under the windows on the front of the building, you can see the carved initials that are believed to belong to the original students at the end of the 19th Century.
The main Parish Hall was opened in 1914, after a successful public subscription raised the money. It was built by Rogers Bros of Havant to a design by G.C Vernon-Inkpen for £900. Vernon-Inkpen was a noted architect who lived in Rowlands Castle.
Idsworth council meetings began here in 1916 and the first public meeting was held in 1918 to discuss the War Memorial. Note that the Parish of Rowlands Castle was only formed in 1932. In earlier times, Rowlands Castle was smaller and less important than Idsworth, Wellsworth, Durrants, or Redhill.
The first mention of use of the stage was in 1925, a village performance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The hall was regularly used for social groups, choral societies and fundraising events – including the Women’s Temperance League before and after the war.
The hall was used as a school between 1939 and 1945 when the Battersea Boys were evacuated to the village and their education continued here. The school, Battersea Central School for Boys, was evacuated in part to Rowlands Castle during WWII. The children arrived in September 1939 and were billeted throughout the village, along with their headmaster Mr Ling. The Hall was also used to provide entertainment for the troops stationed in the area at this time.
There have been youth clubs, wedding receptions and dances held here. At one time it was used as a rifle range. It is still actively used by the community with the Montessori Nursery using the old Small Hall, and is available for public groups to rent.