In some respects the Village hall is the central hub of  the community and once the new school and doctors' surgery were built it became even more a focal point as so many people pass by it every day. Regular users include the parish Council,  the Gardening Club, the Short Mat Bowls and Badminton Clubs and Mums & Tots group. In addition many of the one-off social events such as Denton Day, discos, charity fundraisers etc take place there and it is also hired out for private functions.

 

Denton is lucky to have such a meeting place but it is thanks to past generations and their resolve that a community hall exists. 

As far back as 1937 a Committee was formed to raise funds to put up a village hall as Denton had no such facility. Any social event was usually held in the primary school buildings which boasted seating suitable for under 10 year olds - hardly a comfortable and inviting environment to sit and watch a performance or play whist!  Furthermore the Education Department charged 25 shillings to hire the school which meant few meetings or events were held there.

An insight into the value of having a village hall comes from a slightly tongue in cheek article written by a  Chronicle and Echo reporter in April 1953 which graphically illustrated the frustrations of holding village events in less than ideal surroundings. It was however still to be another 9 nine years before the ‘old’ hall would be acquired and opened for business.

 

Cards in the classroom ……….

 

 

The whist-drivers of Denton are caught up in a vicious circle. For years their playing seats have been in the tiny, uncomfortable desks of the village school; because Denton has no hall.

 

And to get that hall they will have to sit longer and longer in the tiny, uncomfortable desks, for the money raised by the drives will – eventually – pay for the hall.

 

The other evening I watched the players squeeze and wriggle their way into their way into the desks built for little boys and girls.

 

They grunted and groaned as they fitted themselves in. Then the M.C, Mr Horace Woodger, blew his whistle and play began.

 

A fluttering silence, peculiar to whist drives and examination rooms, descended. All that could be heard was the flip-flapping of playing cards and the creaking of the bulging woodwork.

 

Occasionally a suppressed butt furious ‘Oh’ hissed round the cream and green-painted room as some poor unfortunate trumped his partner’s ace – or kicked his partner’s shin.

 

Then Mr Woodger broke silence with another blast on his whistle. It was time for all to move up a desk and begin the second hand.

 

The buxom women gently eased themselves out with a strange creaking sound.

 

The long-legged men unfolded their limbs and slid out like worms emerging from their holes

 

Those who came off best, of course, were the thin, wiry types. When the whistle went they rose with the greatest of ease and watched with ironical amusement the Herculean efforts of their longer and bulkier companions.

 

And so it went on throughout the evening; into their seats (groan), out of their seats (grunt). Twenty-four hands were played in all ……

 

Mr Charles  Prewett, the 61-years-old secretary of the Village Hall committee, told me; “ For years we have wanted somewhere to hold drives, to give children’s parties and hold other entertainments.

 

It is ridiculous playing our Friday evening whist sitting in these little desks. But if we want the hall we shall just have to carry on here”.

 

The drive I watched raised £6 for the hall fund. But another £994 is needed.

 

A few years later the outbreak of war overtook their activities and the whole project was shelved. The war, however, indirectly helped their cause in that the War Office erected an L-shaped building at the top of Vicarage Lane to operate as a Women's Land Army hostel (see Ladies on the farm.). In 1952, a few years after the war had ended, the Village Hall fundraising committee was reformed  and took over the old committee's funds totalling £80. Further years of fundraising followed and eventually the committee were in a position to buy the hall in 1961 from Northampton R.D.C for  £450 with the aid of a 50% Government Grant. The committee than had to get the necessary work done to alter the hostel into a  building suitable for use as a village hall. Contractors did the main work converting dormitories into a dance hall and theatre. A new wooden block floor was laid, a stage built and electric heating was installed. Much of the other work, such as curtain making, putting up fittings and cleaning was done by the 14 strong committee and their supporters. The total cost of the project came to £2,200.

 

 The hall was opened on 12th October 1962 by Mrs A. C. Finnimore, a supporter of the Committee. Alderman W. J. Penn, chairman of the Northampton Education Committtee, was also present and said  'It is our duty to all we can to encourage every village to provide themselves with their village hall'. The efforts of getting the hall into use had left the committee's finances £70 in the red. However this was immediately resolved when the fete, whist drive and dance held following the opening raised £98. At last Denton had a public meeting place of its own.

 

The 'old hall' served all areas of the community well for the following years but gradually the nature of the structure (it was only ever intended to be a temporary building) meant the hall was beginning to become less safe to use and it compared unfavourably with other, modern, village halls being built elsewhere.

 

In the mid 1970s therefore a new effort of fundraising was launched with a view to demolishing the old hall and replacing it on the same site with a brand new modern hall.This continued apace for the next 5 years by which time enough had been raised to get quotations for the work. The  total cost was to be around £65,000 and an application was submitted for a grant of £45,000 from South Northamptonshire District Council in 1981/2 which represented the standard 70% contribution available from the Local Authority.

 

 But although the grant was eventually forthcoming it was only halfway through the financial year and this was an era of high inflation. The building costs had already increased and the amount of grant required had jumped to £49,000. A request for an increase in the grant to cover the 70% of the £4,000 increase was turned down by the Council leaving the whole shortfall to be raised by the village.

 

To Denton's credit the extra money was raised by the hardworking committee running even more events and the building work started in 1982. The brand new hall was opened in November that year by Earl Compton, the Marquess of Northampton. It was a great improvement on the old hall and was, and is, well used to this day. However there is always a programme of ongoing improvements and in 2008 an extra storage area was added and there are future plans for more extension and improvement.