The Duchess of Cornwall opens the Coronation Hall in East Grafton.  Report by Peter Lemon

The residents of Grafton Parish were given the Royal seal of approval when the Duchess of Cornwall recently opened their new Village Hall.

Over 100 residents attended to the Opening Ceremony on 23^rd February when the Duchess joined them for an “informal coffee morning”.  On her arrival she was greeting by Peter Lemon, chairman of Grafton Parish Council and a guard of honour provided by the East Grafton Primary School children when she was presented with a posy by Louise Banting and Shannon Oakey.

Everyone who came to greet the Duchess had in one way or another help raise funds to rebuild the Hall and they were thrilled that the Royal visit overshot its prescribed duration as the Duchess enjoyed meeting so many local residents.  During her visit she was escorted to different groups of people by Ann Dudney, Susie Brew and Jamie Pearson where the Duchess chatted to everyone in a very relaxed and friendly manner.

She met Darren Palin who has been involved with his red suit, white beard and reindeer and has for many years given local children a very special Christmas, before being taken into the Hall’s fantastic new kitchen where she met Annette Hoogeweegen and Angela Walsh.  The Duchess was then given a quick cup of team with Alison Comyn and Gale Harman while she admired the lovely mural which June Pearson had painted depicting the five hamlets in the Parish.

The Duchess moved slowly round the groups and discussed the very successful children’s treasure hunts with Lucy Pash before going onto meet Crofton Keys who had raised more money for the Hall on the sponsored treasure hunt that any other Child in the Parish.  The atmosphere was very relaxed and the hum of chatter showed how much everyone was enjoying themselves.

At the final table Gen Michael Walsh introduced Capt Glen Jones to the Duchess.  Capt Jones had brought the Parachute Regimental Band to Grafton for Music of the Green in 2007 and 2008 when money was raised for the Hall and Injured servicemen.

Peter Lemon then formally welcomed the Duchess with a short speech before inviting her to unveil the plaque and formally open the Hall.

In his speech of welcome Peter Lemon said

Your Royal Highness,  Lord Lieutenant

It is with enormous pleasure that on behalf of the Grafton Parish I welcome you to the Coronation Hall this morning.  Our original Coronation Hall was built on this site in 1937 to celebrate King George V1’s coronation.

Today we are celebrating the rebuilding of the Hall which is providing a fantastic meeting place for a very wide range of educational, training and family activities.

This hall has been designed so that it is complimentary to its beautiful surroundings on the village Green and is equipped to meet all the current environmental standards. 

It has an excellent lighting and sound system for theatre productions, conferences, and film nights.  We have a sprung floor for school PE lessons, yoga and personal fitness sessions as well as family parties and dances.

Our excellent kitchen facilities will cater for 180 people to sit down to a meal or perhaps a wedding reception following the marriage ceremony at our lovely Church only 200 yards further up the village Green.

Your Royal Highness, we are very proud of what our local community has achieved.

So many people within the Parish have helped to organise fund raising events and I am delighted that they have had the opportunity of greeting you today.  

We have also had great financial support from three grant providers -  The Big Lottery, Kennet District Council and The Landfill Communities Fund which is managed by Community First,  of which  I know you are their Patron. I am very pleased that they have joined us here today.

This project has had a very big impact by bringing together so many people and creating friendships and a real willingness to help.  I believe that this is a very important aspect and I am sure you have been able to see how beneficial this has become during your visit with us this morning.

We are delighted that you have so kindly come to officially open the Coronation Hall and I would be very honoured if you would like to do so now.

History of the rebuilding project March 2006 to November 2009

In February 2006 the Grafton Parish Council became the Trustee of the Coronation Hall and decided that the Hall need to be renovated to meet the present required standards of a public building.

In March a meeting was held at the Swan in Wilton when 65 people came to discuss how money could be raised for the Hall.  We started with ideas to raise £10, then progressively moved on to £100, £1,000 and finally £10,000 and from these discussions the fund raising activities began.  Residents took ownership of ideas and quickly formed groups who organised and ran a number of events.  These ranged from the Grafton Game Fair, Music on the Green, Bridge days, Children Treasure Hunts to Mushroom Forays and French nights.

The whole Parish was sent a survey asking each household what they thought should happen to the Hall and 82% of the Parish responded with a massive majority voting to replace the Hall if sufficient funds could be raised.  With this clear message the Parish Council decided that it must proceed and Guy Symons kindly asked his friend Andrew Taylor of the Barn Partnership to design the Hall and apply for planning permission which we received in November 2006.

Peter Lemon set about applying for grants from the Big Lottery, Kennet District Council and The Landfill Community Fund which is run by Community First in Devizes.  In all three cases grants were given to the Coronation Hall, although the most incredible success was the Big Lottery grant of £274,500.  The Big Lottery received 1,600 applications for village halls in England for this particular grant and the final outcome was that they awarded only 35 grants.  The Coronation Hall was the only successful Hall in Wiltshire and one of only 4 in the South West of England.

With sufficient funds in place The Parish Council engaged Christopher Lawrence FRICS as the Project Manager in March 2008 and building regulation drawing were produced and we went out to tender in January 2009.  Carty Building Contractors from Marlborough were the successful bidder and the old Hall was taken down in March 2009 and the rebuilding project began.

During the construction period the Parish Council had its own management team to supervise the building and provide all the necessary fixtures and fittings for the Hall.  Jamie Pearson managed the building project issues and Susie Brew arranged all the fixtures and fittings while Ann Dudney was the finance controller and liased with the Charity Commission and the whole project was managed by Peter Lemon.  There was a very successful out come on 27^th November 2009 when Pat Carty handed over the keys on time and on budget.

Since the hall was open for use in December 2009 it has been very regularly used with the number of booking increasing every month.  The final Royal seal of approval when the Duchess of Cornwall officially opened the Hall on 23^rd February was the culmination of many many months hard work and tenacity by everyone involved.