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The land on which the Village Hall and the Old School House now stand was given to the Parish of Buckland by Baron Lionel de Rothschild in 1864 for a school and schoolhouse.  The buildings were paid for by public subscription with Queen Victoria making a donation.  The architect was George Devey, the Rothschild’s architect.  

The school was opened, with the schoolteacher occupying the adjoining schoolhouse. The original plans show two separate entrances to the school, the boys’ entrance from the village road and the girls’ entrance from New Road.  The land and buildings were held in trust for the Parish by the Vicar and Churchwardens.  Unfortunately, about 1920, owing to a fall in the number of pupils, the school closed and then Buckland children went to school in Aston Clinton.  However, the building returned to being a school during World War II when children and their teachers were evacuated here from London.

When the Schoolroom was no longer required as a school it was used for various events in the village, from social events, parish council meetings, polling station, etc.   The School House, meanwhile, was rented out to provide a small income for the maintenance of both properties. No major maintenance or modernisation was carried out because nobody had the authority to implement such works. It was not until 1994, following a great deal of hard work and determination, particularly by Air Commodore Ronnie Brown, that a registered charity, Buckland Old School Trust, was set up.  The whole building is now Grade 2 listed.  

One of the first decisions made by the Trustees was to rename the building Buckland Village Hall.  The building needed a great deal of money spent on it to bring it up to modern standards.  The Trustees were now in a position to carry out this work and made a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £111,000. The project required partnership funding.  The majority of this funding was raised by the sale of part of the land previously used as garden by the occupants of the Old School House for residential development.  This is now Rathlin. Buckland Parish Council paid the architect’s fees, planning and building regulations charges, Buckland Society made a financial contribution to the project, as did private residents.    

Refurbishment began in 1998 and was completed in 1999, when the Hall was officially opened by Air Commodore Ronnie Brown and his wife, Margaret Treacher Brown. The Hall has been used for many and varied events over the years: Buckland Society ran several social events, sometimes one per month; Buckland Players put on many performances always to a full house; Parish Council meetings and elections continued to take place there; private functions have included birthdays, christenings, weddings, and wakes; U3A, wine club, bridge, dance lessons, yoga, keep fit, pilates, tai  chi . . . . to name but a few of the hirings the Hall has seen in recent years.

Photos available in the Archive:

Buckland School, old people’s parties, children’s parties, Buckland Players, Ladies Group, etc.

Carole Paternoster