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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHART SUTTON VILLAGE HALL

Chart Sutton Village Hall was built in 1929 for the sum of £640 by Mr Westgate of Langley, the architect being Mr Mason Apps of Sutton Valance. It is about 60 ft. by 20ft. and built of wood with weather boarding outside on a foundation of brick. The money to build it was raised in the village over a 3 year period from donations as well as various events arranged by an organising committee headed by the Reverend Davisson. It lies on Chart Hill Road

It was opened by Mrs Salmon of Norton Court who had given the land in memory of her friend The Reverend Gayner, who was the vicar in Chart Sutton from 1899 to 1912.

A Parish meeting was held on December 5th 1929 and the minutes state that item 1 was to elect a committee consisting of 20 gentlemen and 20 ladies. This rather large committee was soon formed into an executive committee and various sub committees.

We now have a small village hall committee consisting of volunteers who meet every few months to manage the hall and its finances.

From time to time there have been various major improvements to the hall, including the installation of electricity in 1954, the small room extension in 1959 and the surfacing of the car park around the hall in 1965. A new heating system was later installed following "The Village Appeal" in 1980. However, this year (2024) saw the building have a major overhaul with the removal of the gas heating system and its replacement with external heat pumps and solar panels paid for in part by a grant from Maidstone Council in a bid to render it environmentally friendly for years to come. The car park has also had 2 EV chargers installed for public use.

The hall is a village asset where the people of Chart Sutton and beyond can meet and socialise and/or discuss more serious matters relating to the area. It exists for the people of the Parish to use and enjoy if they so wish and to contribute to the sense of community spirit and village identity.

This website will hopefully be a window into what goes on in the village hall and the various money raising events and different activities that take place each week.

The historical information was taken from "A History of Chart Sutton" by Gerald Salmon

Chart Sutton Village Hall is a registered charity no. 292454