St Mary's Hall Appeal

THAT "L" SHAPED BUILDING - A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH HALL

THE SIGN OUTSIDE THE STRANGELY IRREGULAR "L" SHAPED BUILDING ADVERTISES THE "COFFEE POT". ONE WING OF THE BUILDING BEARS THE DATE "1870" ON ITS STONEWORK: FROM THE OTHER RIGHT-ANGLED WING A FLATTENED HALF-MOON FLIGHT OF STEPS DESCENDS DIRECTLY ONTO MAIN ROAD. WHY WAS THE BUILDING SO CONSTRUCTED?

Records show that the 1870 wing, provided by the 3rd Earl Manvers as the new Church of England School, was built to relieve congestion in the adjacent Dowager Countess Manvers School, established in 1825. By 1876 however, Radcliffe’s increasing population, and the consequent increase in the number of schoolchildren, necessitated building the longer right-angled wing, again funded by Lord Manvers. The 1870 building became the Infant School and the new larger wing became the Mixed School. The Vicar and Churchwardens sat on the Management Committee and religious instruction was much to the fore.

There were several changes of schoolmaster until 1875 when Mr and Mrs James Browne were appointed to run the school. They did so excellently, a Government report of 1876 stating that ---“the Mixed Department is remarkably well taught throughout….even the dull children have been made to pass a satisfactory examination”.
Perhaps Mr Browne’s awesome height of 6ft 3ins inspired extra diligence in his pupils.
The diminutive Mrs Browne (4ft 6ins), was equally successful with the infants, the report stating that …. Their work does Mrs Browne and her helpers’ credit”.

The possibilities of the new School building as a pivotal meeting place for the Church and the community were soon apparent. In 1875 the first of Radcliffe’s popular Evangelical Missions were held there; on Jan 5th 1876 the Rev. J Cullen chaired a crowded inaugural meeting of Radcliffe’s Church of England Temperance Society and subsequent meetings of the Band of Hope attracted over 100 followers. The boisterous proximity of the Manvers Arms may have been an influential factor!

On November 8th 1877 a Church Vestry meeting at the school took the important decision to raise funds to rebuild St Mary’s Church. For two years the School Room doubled as the church. It was officially licensed for religious worship and 12 dozen extra chairs were ordered for Sunday congregations. When the present Church opened on November 6th 1879, St Mary’s congregation had only to return to the other side of Main Road.

During the 1885 election campaign the schoolroom inadvertently attracted countrywide notoriety, having become the focus of a political squabble between the local Conservatives, who had held election meetings there, the local Liberal Association and the Vicar. Worse was to come when the Nottingham Journal’s October edition reported on “Radcliffe Rowdyism”. On this occasion vengeful local Conservatives hired a riotous mob to scuttle the Liberal meeting booked in the School room. A punch-up developed and some desks were broken.
This was an isolated blemish on the reputation of the school, however, and pleasant events such as dances and Band of Hope tea parties were the normal social events in the calendar.

By 1900 Radcliffe’s increasing population again resulted in a seriously overcrowded School. On 30th September 1905 the County Education Authority assumed responsibility for the School and on 11th January 1909 it moved to new premises on Bingham Road (now demolished). Mr and Mrs Browne were still in charge.

The Manvers family still owned the old School building. Parochial meetings and Sunday School classes continued to be held there and for a time it housed the Pierrepont Institute of Adult Education.

In the mid 1930’s the School was bought by a Mr Sleath and converted into a cinema with box office, ticket seller and usherettes – torches but no uniform!

Mrs Emily Marsh, who as a small girl in Shelford, recalled being conveyed to the fourpenny Saturday Matinee with other young companions, perched on top of the butcher’s horse-drawn delivery dray on its return journey to Radcliffe. Popular stars were Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, George Formby and Gracie Fields.

Mr Sleath’s cinema thrived during the War with three changes of programme during the week and a queue for the Saturday matinees. When the projector broke down the audience would duck down in their seats to avoid the sticky chewing gum flicked at them by the lads in the back row! Mr Sleath patrolled the central aisle to keep order. Of course the back row also had its romantic appeal for Radcliffe’s courting couples! At the beginning of the War it seems that the cinema added to its role as a morale booster for the Home Front by being used as a Health and Billeting Centre for evacuees.

By the early 1950’s Hollywood extravaganzas such as “Tarzan and the Elephant Boy” and the dramatic “The African Queen” could be seen for one and sixpence or two and ninepence - but by the mid 1950’s the cinema was for sale. Possibly the lure of 3D and wide screen cinema in Nottingham together with television caused the decline of film going in Radcliffe.

For a time, Saturday evening dances and Sunday evening Silver Band concerts were held there. Then in 1967 the sale of the cinema to St Mary’s Church was concluded, the chairman of the Church Hall Committee, Sir Henry Prior, being a prime mover in its acquisition from Mr Sleath.

Funded and maintained by St Mary’s Church, the Church Centre revived the tradition of linking the Church and community in Radcliffe. Booked to capacity at times by the Sunday School, Guides, Drama Group, Air Cadets, Coffee Pot, Senior Citizens etc the Centre has catered for many village organisations and casual groups at reasonable rates and benefits the whole community.

Sadly, the building is now well over 100 years old and showing signs of its age, with leaking roofs a constant worry. Despite many fervent efforts by the Church, the Drama Group and others to maintain and improve the facilities by organising fundraising events and appeals for money, the latest legislation on standards for public buildings obliged the Parish Church Council of St Mary’s to seriously examine the future of the building.

The PCC has examined every possible aspect of the future needs of the Church and its role in the Community. The decision to embark on a scheme to build a new hall on the same site as the Church itself represents a great challenge not only to the Church but to the village in general. It is anticipated that, when complete, the hall will continue the tradition of service and play an important part in the life of the village.