Refurbished Langley Church Hall starts new chapter 150 years after it first opened

Langley Church Hall has started a new chapter 150 years after it was first opened.

On 30th March, Tim Cox, the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, opened the renovated hall following a five-year closure.

The event came after the Mothering Sunday service in the church and a hall blessing by Rev Jo Parker. Villagers enjoyed cake and sparkling wine in the spring sunshine as they celebrated.

“It’s just lovely to have the hall back after five years,” said Sally Cohen, a long-term village resident.

Renovation committee member Andrea Duxbury explained its history and revival: “The renovation of the hall has taken four years of fundraising and hard work. The timber building was probably used from the 1870s as a mission hut and for church services from at least the early 1880s was replaced as a church in 1890 but retained to host night schools, mothers’ meetings and Sunday school.

“It has been in constant use since then for meetings and events for the village, living with the evident damp and the occasional hazard of putting your heel through the floor... it’s a very damp site. In a village with only the hall and church it is very important to the community.

“We know when the church was planned and built in the 1890 and it’s safe to assume no one imagined it would still be standing and in use 150 or so years later.

“In autumn 2024, thanks to the Torre Trust, the Wolverton with Norton Lindsay and Langley PCC and the continued generosity of Langley residents, Change IT were finally able start work. Their sympathetic approach means the hall has been stabilised and modernised but retains all its ancient character.

David Clark, chair of Langley Parish Council, added: “It is such an important part of village life, it’s just great to have it back in use again and looking so smart.”