About the Hall

Caversham Hall is a registered charity (no. 234438).

Our aim is to provide residents of Caversham – regardless of race, colour or creed – with a safe, welcoming community space, available to hire at a reasonable rate.

The Hall is run and maintained by the Trustees of Caversham Hall, all of who give their time on a voluntary basis.

Please note: although situated next to it, Caversham Hall has no association with St John’s Church.

Aims and objectives

That its hire charges be kept as competitive as possible;

That it be maintained to the highest standard at all times;

That it remain available for hire throughout local school term-time;

That it be available for hire on both weekdays and weekends;

That it maintain its charitable, not-for-profit status.

History

Caversham Hall was built around 1890 and, from 1893, began life as St John’s National Voluntary Infants’ School.

In 1895, a larger school – St John’s Church of England School – was opened for 250 boys and girls on land behind it. That building still stands today and is now in use as New Bridge Nursery School.

Both buildings continued as schools until their closure in the late 1950s. Shortly afterwards, the infants’ school was purchased by the Trustees of Caversham Hall for use as a village hall for the local community. With minimal structural changes, it was redeveloped in the early 1960s into the building you see today.

It has remained in continuous use as a village hall ever since and, as the images below illustrate, is largely unchanged from when it was first built over 130 years ago.

The original images were taken in 1907 by Oxfordshire County Council’s first Education Secretary, Percy Elford (1867–1950), whose role was to visit and photograph all 235 schools inherited by the council following the Education Act of 1902. As Caversham remained part of Oxfordshire until 1911, St John’s National Voluntary School fell within his remit.

If you’d like to read more about this remarkable individual, there’s a rather wonderful article about him here.

All Percy Elford images © Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire History Centre.