Memorial Title
Pomeroy Memorial Hall
Summary
Images
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Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image. Further images may be available on request. |
Locations
| Last known location: Buxton Rd (A515) Pomeroy Derbyshire |
Nearest postcode: SK17 9QG NGR: SK 11717 67618 ±5m (Map opens in new window.) |
Location details: The hall is on the northern side of the road, just north of the hamlet of Pomeroy. The road may not be formally named but is known as Buxton Rd or Ashbourne Rd. |
Type
| Overall type: Memorial Hall | Overall condition: Poor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Description: A single storey oblong community hall. The walls are mainly of rubble limestone but the south wall, which has the main entrance and faces the road, is of ashlar limestone. The names of those associated with construction are incised around the base of the walls. The external corners, and window and door jambs, have blocking of dressed gritstone and lintels and cills are also of dressed gritstone. The roof is of Welsh slate on timber trusses. The east elevation has a chimney stack of blue bricks, with earthenwear pot, which originally served an indoor solid fuel stove which is now derelict. The south gable bears a slightly projecting stone tablet with in incised inscription in upright capital block lettering. The main entrance door originally had a gabled canopy, the outline of which is just discernable on the stonework. The hall is located within a plot of land originally intended for a bowling green but is now overgrown. Glossary |
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Inscription
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Administration
Local authorities:
From WW1: Flagg Parish Council; Bakewell Rural District Council; Derbyshire County Council.
From WW2: Hartington Middle Quarter Parish Council; Bakewell Rural District Council; Derbyshire County Council.
From 1974: Hartington Middle Quarter Parish Council; Derbyshire Dales District Council; Derbyshire County Council.
History and Conservation
March, 1920: The first sod was cut by Mr G W P Beswick.
June, 1920: Foundation stones were laid by Mrs F Robinson, Mrs J Spencer, Mrs M Dicken, Mr M Harrison, the Rev T J Pearce, Mr J Heathcote, Mr H Melland, Mr H R P Lomas , Mrs T C Bailey, Mr T Ryan jnr, Mr J Horobin, Mrs C Melland, Mr C Melland, Mrs J Horobin, and Mr J Ashworth. These are the names inscised on the outside of the walls.
1920-21: The memorial was built from local materials by local craftsmen. Mr Melland donated stone from his quarry; it was got by G & T Hodgkinson and R Handley and. it was dressed by Mr Moses Harrison of Street Farm. Mr Fred Robinson, wheelwright from Chelmorton, did the joinery work, Mr J Dawson did the slating, and Mr F Robinson did the plastering.
7th September, 1921: The hall was opened by Mr H R P Lomas who formally unlocked the door.
The cost was about £2400 raised by local residents supported by local businessman Mr H R P Lomas. Subsequently over the next few years the hall was used for dances, other social gatherings and as a Sunday school.
1925: The croft to the east of the hall was donated by His Grace Victor Cavendish KG GCVO GCVO PC, 9th Duke of Devonshire.
1927: The cellar was added.
1929: The hall is known to have been used for religious services.
1931: Chairs were donated by Mr H R P Lomas.
November, 1932: The stove was repaired.
May, 1941 - April, 1945: The building was used for storage by the Home Guard under a 'tender of arms'.
1945 - 1952s: The hall was again used for social functions and for dances although their popularity declined.
17th April, 1951: The Peak District National Park was created and the hall lies within it.
1960s-1970s: The hall was revived by local people in the late 1960s and funds were raised from whist drives and a Christmas raffle to modernise it. A new stove was built, and electricity and water were installed later in the 1970’s.
1969: The Pomeroy War Memorial Fund lapsed when the last remaining trustee died.
Mid 1980s: Popularity and interest declined again and apart from a few occasional events, the hall was mainly used by a local music group for practice. Derbyshire Rural Community Council (now Rural Action Derbyshire) became involved in finding uses for the hall and it was eventually used for storage by Buxton Drama League.
February, 2020: The (new) Pomeroy Trust was formed.
12th November, 2020: The trust reported that a £1000 grant had been awarded by Derbyshire County Council Community Leadership Fund and £3390 by the War Memorials Trust for a feasibility study on the future of the hall. Subsequently £1000 was awarded by the Bingham Trust.
3rd December, 2020: A grant of £1000 was awarded by The Better Derbyshire Dales Fund via Derbyshire Dales CVS supported by Derby and Derbyshire CCG, Derbyshire County Council Public Health and Derbyshire Dales District Council. A further grant of £300 from the Peak District National Park Authority Small Grants Scheme was also towards the feasibility study.
14th December, 2020: It was announced that the Bingham Trust had increased their original grant offer of £1000 to a total of £2357.00, which meant that the feasibility study could go ahead. Architects Smith and Roper, of Bakewell, were appointed to carry out the study.
February, 2021: A public consultation was launched to consider future uses of the hall.
27th September, 2021: A meeting was held to discuss the architects' plans.
7th June 2022: The memorial was surveyed by Roy Branson. It was in poor condition.
References
Staffordshire Advertiser; 21st September, 1929, p9 col3: A reference to a religious service in the hall.
https://www.facebook.com/pomeroymemorialhall/ consulted in August 2022.
https://www.thepomeroytrust.co.uk/ consulted in August 2022.
Buxton Advertiser; 26th November, 2020: an article on the progress towards renovating the hall.
Pers Comm; O'Dwyer, J; 1st June, 30th August and 9th September 2022; Emails providing information about the hall.
Comments
Special thanks to Jess O'Dwyer, secretary of the Pomeroy Trust, and her mother Jean Brown, for supplying many of the details of the history of the memorial.
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Page © Roy Branson