Hall Renovation Project
Hall Renovation project
Phase 1 completed and Main Hall was opened for use on April 23rd 2010.
Phase II - funds in process of being raised. Will include Hall exterior.
The Old School Hall
150 people attend Opening Celebrations
Class of 2010 reformed
At 4pm on Friday 23rd April, the reopening of the Llandyssil Old School Hall took place. The event was marked by speeches by Andrew Lloyd, Chairman of the Llandyssil Community Charitable Trust, who thanked everyone involved for helping secure, fund and refurbish the Hall for the village; village resident Cyril Mountford, who attended the school in the 1920’s and who unveiled a commemorative plaque, told the assembled company of his time as a boy at the School in the 1920s, and Cllr Wynne Jones who praised the village for its continuing support for this wonderful project. Following the opening, former pupils of Llandyssil School, which closed in 1950, had their photograph taken for a ‘time capsule’ that is to be placed up the chimney. Pupils present included Blodwen Lloyd, Glenys Lloyd, Audrey Lloyd, Cyril Mountford, Albert Eaton, Enid Eaton, Raymond Eaton, Raymond Jones, Dorothy Jones, Olwen Jones, Jean Jones, Verley Jones, Megan Bowen, Anne Bowen, Arthur Price, Roy Whittingham and Ritchie Allen – the Class of 2010. At 7pm there was a celebratory Duck Race on the Llandyssil Brook organised by the Youth Club – the proceeds of which were given to the Hall fund. A display made by Mike Membery showed in detail the wealth of environmentally friendly and energy saving features incorporated into the refurbished building. Thanks were recorded by Chairman, Andrew Lloyd to all those who played a part in supporting the refurbishment – the Community Council, the Church Wardens of St Tyssil’s Church, Cllr Wynne Jones, PAVO and other donors who had helped raised £110,000 needed, the building team who had done such an excellent job in restoring the building and most of all to everyone in the local community who had given their commitment and support. Potted history
The School was probably built in 1866 - immediately following the building of St Tyssil’s Parish Church (1863 – 65). The building initially served as a Church of England School but became a Church in Wales School in 1920, following the disestablishment of the Church in Wales.
When the school opened in Abermule in January 1951, the schools in Llandyssil and Cefn-y-Coed became redundant and closed. The School in Llandyssil then became known as the Old School Hall - and was used for meetings and social events in the village such as the Llandyssil show and Saturday night dances – the ‘6th Hops’.
In 1968, the St Asaph Diocesan Board of Finance sold the Old School Hall to the Managing Trustees of St Tyssil’s Church – ultimately the Representative Body of the Church in Wales. The £1,000 needed to purchase the Old School Hall was raised from the village by public subscription.
In 2003, St Tyssil’s Church, in a leaflet to Llandyssil residents, announced that Llandyssil Church had a money crisis and the help and support of the village was needed or it would close and, as the Old School Room was leased to Llandyssil Church by the Church in Wales, it might also be ‘lost’. In 2004 a Joint Management Committee, including a newly formed Hall Committee and the Church Wardens, was established and, over the next four years, a spirited defense was mounted to save the Hall.
Four years later, on September 24th 2008, a 25 year lease was signed securing the Old School Hall for the village until 2033. The Hall pays an annual rent to the St Tyssil’s Church which will hopefully help secure the future of the Church for the community.
On the 23rd April 2010 the refurbished Hall was opened.Some of the notable events at which meals were served for all those in the Llandyssil Parish in the Old School Hall: 1937 – King George V Coronation1953 – Queen Elizabeth 11 Coronation1969 - Prince Charles ‘Croeso’1977 - Queen Elizabeth 11 Silver Jubilee1981 – The wedding of Princes Charles and Lady Diana Spencer Village MemorabiliaAn archive of village memorabilia has been established so that any old pictures, records or artefacts of Llandyssil, its parish and people are not lost. There are already some wonderful old photographs in the Hall and a display cabinet has been built to house them and keep them safe. If anyone has any old material which they think might be of interest that they do not wish to keep, please inform any trustee.