Village Halls (The)

The buildings were not purpose-built. In 1870 Samuel Morley bought the Hall Place estate and his daughter came with him to Leigh. She was concerned to find that, although there was a small meeting house in the village where the Methodist Free Church held meetings, only very rarely was the Lord’s Supper celebrated. She persuaded her father to put up a tent near the girls’ school in Powder Mill Lane where Gospel meetings and children’s services were conducted and the membership grew. The tent had to come down in the autumn and preaching was carried out in the Reading Room in Oak Cottage which had been opened by Samuel Morley to try to stop the workmen who were rebuilding Hall Place from going to the pubs. Although he was a Congregationalist he supported his daughter’s work and decided to build a non-conformist chapel.  This main building and all the other buildings on the site would form what would eventually become the Leigh Village Halls.

The Large Hall was designed by George Devey and the work began in November 1871 and completed by May 1872.  The builders were Hope Constable of Penshurst and the stonework for all the windows and the roof timbering came from the former Baronial Hall built in 1846 at Hall Place.   Thus this building formed the present large village hall, which is why it has its gothic windows and timbered roof.  The 1872 Drainage Map and Report refer to this Chapel as being well guttered, with water closet with tank over supplied from the roof.  Drainage as being completed and leading to an old pond and a WC which has since been connected.

Samuel Morley also built a red-brick cottage at the rear of the Chapel, described as the Schoolhouse (the Sunday School Room), now our Small Village Hall.  The builder this time was ‘Everest’ and again the stonework from the old Baronial Hall was used for the windows; and a Baptistery was also built, now the main Legion Club Room.   This Sunday School Room and baptistery would cost £800.  By 1880, the cottage – Institute Cottage – alongside the Chapel, Schoolroom and Baptistry had also been built.

After Samuel Morley died, support for the Chapel fell and, by the end of the 19th century, it was no longer needed and was used as a village hall. A small corrugated iron chapel was built behind the halls in 1907 for non-conformist services, but this ceased to attract a congregation and was burnt down in 1982.

In 1952 the Leigh Free Church (Tin Chapel), the Village Halls and Institute including the premises occupied by the British Legion, the Scouts headquarters and the Allotments, all in the parish of Leigh, and the Chapel on Sevenoaks/Tonbridge road, all complete with fixtures and chattels, were conveyed to a charitable trust which was designated The Morley Charitable Trust.   For Lord Hollenden this was a way to assure their future.  The Trustees’ role would be to preserve these amenities for the village.   In 1983, the Morley Charitable Trust, under powers given to them by the 1952 Conveyance, transferred the Halls to the Village Hall Management Committee with the Parish Council acting a Custodian Trustee.  The Royal British Legion leased the clubroom and flat.   Under the new management, the many activities of the former Institute and many new activities continue today.  In 1985 the Burial Ground too was transferred to the care of the Parish Council.

In 2006 a major refurbishment took place with grants from a variety of sources.

(Updated August 2021)