Historical Memorial Hall to be converted into community hub and cafe in Derbyshire village

The Memorial Hall, on Station Road, Barrow Hill, has been identified as a heritage asset in the Barrow Hill Conservation area and will be soon converted into a community space.

The hall was built by Richard Barrow as a part of the first stage of his model village in the 1850s, which then included over 100 block cottages providing homes for his newly recruited miners, four villas for his works manager’s, a combined Church of England Mission and National School and a schoolmaster’s house.

In the early 1860s, he turned his attention to the problem of keeping his workforce at regular hours of work and built a Dining Hall and a Hotel as well as three further villas.

The building which now stands as the memorial to the fallen has been serving the local residents for over 150 years as a Workmen’s Hall, Dining Hall, Workmen’s Institute and Social Club

But in recent years the building has lost its popularity due to lack of maintenance and roof leakage.

Chesterfield Borough Council has approved the application for the refurbishment of existing hall for the provision of community facilities including a cafe, sports hall, meeting and function rooms as well as a day nursery.

External works will be carried out as well including a new entrance, windows, cladding, metalwork and the demolition of some of the extensions built in the 1970s.

The new hall will include a day nursery with a small sensory garden for pre school children. Additionally, several rooms will be restored and refurbished and could be used for wedding receptions.

The upstairs room has its own small kitchen, the café downstairs can be hired out, and the big room downstairs can link or be closed off from the front meeting room.

The sports hall will be used for a variety of activities as well as dance classes, Zumba and Yoga. Other parts of the centre could be hired out for meetings, craft workshops and talks.

A spokesman for Barrow Hill Community Trust said they hope the new centre will provide local people with a community building they can be proud of and raise awareness of the Memorial Hall.