The History Of the Hall

The Upwell Hall was built in 1868 by “a number of gentlemen” who formed themselves into the

“Upwell Public Hall Company (Limited)”. The funds for the building, total cost £806, and  were

raised by selling shares to local people and by obtaining a mortgage from “a friend”.

The land on which the hall was built was provided by Charles Watson Townley, Esq. 

the site being alongside the gravel New Road and in “convenient proximity to the Stables of the Five Bells Inn”.

For many years it was owned by this company and used by the local population.

The main central part of the hall has an impressive, vaulted ceiling and together with the

tower section, constitutes the original building. Over the years a number of extensions have

been added which means the hall now has the benefit of a main dance/meeting hall, a

stage, a bar and seating area, a kitchen, toilets and a modern meeting room.

The hall passed into private hands in 1978 when the company sold it to a Mrs Ann Carter.

She in turn sold it on to Mr Eric St John Foti in 1984. By 1996 the hall had been closed and

was in need of decoration and some renovation. In order to restore the use of the hall to the

local population the Parish Council took the hall for 1 year on a peppercorn lease and set

up a committee of volunteers to run the hall.

After one year the council were convinced of

the hall’s viability and its benefit for the local population so it purchased the hall and have

been the custodian trustees (for the parishioners of the Parish of Upwell) of the hall ever

since, the hall itself being run by the voluntary committee named “Upwell Hall Committee”.

When the committee first took on the hall, with significant fund raising, hard work from

volunteers and some grant aid, they installed a damp course, new windows and

redecorated the interior. Over the years the toilets, kitchen and meeting room have all been

renovated; an area of land behind the building which had been the site of an agricultural

cold store has been transformed into a grassed area with seating and flowers; and the car

parking area was levelled and tarmac was laid.

There are currently plans in motion to modernise the hall and greatly improve its environmental footprint to safeguard it for future the community.