The origins of the village hall in Codsall go way back before the Second World War when Codsall was much smaller than it is today. Try to imagine the centre of the village. There was the Crown Public House and the Bull surrounded by a sandstone wall. In front of the old half-timbered house – used as a restaurant in recent years – was another small wall.
In the Square next to the land owned by the Bull was a cycle shop and running down and round the corner into Wilkes Road were small, very old, cottages. On the other side of the Square, in the area occupied by the car park, was the thriving concern of the Codsall Supply Company. If you stood outside the Crown Inn at that time it was possible to look straight up Church Road to St Nicholas's Church at the top of the hill, as the by-pass had not arrived to cut off the Church's direct access to its village.
In your mind take away the whole of the Wheel Estate, replace the Chillington Estate with a farm, put an orchard where Gorsty Lea Garage stands, a quarry in place of the Council Offices and allotments where the high school, middle school and St Christopher's school now stand. Instead of the modern expanse of Brincars Garage at Birches Bridge was a sweet shop selling a few groceries, with a couple of petrol pumps outside.
This will give you some idea of how small the village was between the wars. However, there was an active village life and it was becoming apparent that Codsall needed its own village hall.
In September 1995 Mr Pat Hughes, the person behind the successful completion of the hall, recorded his account of how it all came about.
Judy Davies, Codsall, 2001 |
