Earlswood Village Hall

[pjmburns]

Yes I know Earlswood is not in Birmingham but I was told something today which fascinated me.

The Village Hall was once a Gospel Church on Broad Street and was moved to its present site and has been the Village Hall ever since.

Their website has a bit more info:

Earlswood Village Hall

Can we find which Church? Or, even better, a photo of it. I gather it is thought to have been near the Five Ways end of Broad Street

 

[pjmburns]

I have tracked down 2 newspaper articles from when the Hall was opened in 1926 .

 

[pjmburns]

 

[pjmburns]

 

[Pedrocut]

The Earlswood website is a bit confusing as it states…
“Earlswood Village Hall was originally built as a Gospel Hall on Broad Street, Birmingham. In the 1920’s it was demolished and rebuilt in Earlswood, on land donated by Miss Warder of Earlswood Court. The removal and rebuild was paid for by public subscription from the local villagers.”

From the last article it looks the Village Hall of 1926 was not an actual direct relocation of a Broad Street Gospel Hall, but a carefully managed reconstruction using salvaged materials from that hall, combined with donated materials and labour. Major Warder seems to have designed a new structure from mixed materials.

There was a widening of parts of Broad Street is 1923, so maybe the Gospel Hall can be found on an earlier map ? Gospel Halls were sometimes hidden in a court or behind the frontage,

 

[pjmburns]

Could it have been this Bible Hall?? Kelly's 1908

 

[Pedrocut]

The Bible Hall at 316 has possibilities. There is a notice of a meeting in the Mission Room, 316 Broad Street, opposite the Hall of Memory in 1925,
There was a removal of a block of buildings between the Hall of Memory and Baskerville Place in 1926ish.