Priory Project
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Old College Hall
History
Old College Hall was the original chancel of the mediaeval church. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it lost its roof. When the Theological College was founded in 1817, the building was re-roofed and the area brought back into use as a lecture hall and used as such until the College closed at the end of the century. At that time both it and the adjoining New College Hall, were given to the church. More detailed history can be found on this site under Church History and Theological College.
The hall is now in a slightly odd position when it comes to qualifying for grants. Architecturally it is part of the Priory church (being the original chancel). But it is used purely as a community hall by the village, St Bees School and groups from outside of the village. It is therefore, a secular building , and has been formally declared to be that by the Diocesan church authorities. This is an important point as many funding bodies will not consider religious buildings.
Current problems
Old College Hall is on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register
The main issue at the moment is the roof which is leaking in several places to such an extent that the hall has been taken out of use by all except the local church and school choirs. These groups have no alternative venue and are prepared to put up with the buckets collecting water when it rains, both for this reason and the fact that the hall has particularly good acoustics for music.
The internal walls are also a problem, as inappropriate paint was applied some 30 + years ago which stops the sandstone walls breathing. This contributes to the damp problem.
Planned work
Re-slate the whole roof with new tiles at an estimated cost of £105,000.
A grant of £65,000 has been offered by English Heritage. The remaining £40,000 will have to be raised from the local community and other funding bodies. This must be done by March 2012, the deadline for the roof work to commence, otherwise we risk forfeiting the English Heritage grant.
Restore the inside of the building by removing the inappropriate paintwork and carying out any necessary additional work.
The cost of this is yet to be determined due to the need to obtain a survey by a specialist firm - Hirst Conservation. The cost of this survey will be between £2,000 and £2,500. We are currently seeking funders for this work.
Our hope is to restore this hall to as near as is reasonably possible to its original splendour, for use by the community as a venue for music, lectures, meetings, art and craft displays (and for an extension of the current history displays in the Priory).
Old College Hall - This etching shows the hall during its days as a lecture theatre for the Theological College.
