THE GIFFORD VILLAGE HALL 1887 -1967
 

In 1887 the building in The Square, which had been the principal village school, was converted into the Town (or Village) Hall in celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was for a while known as the Jubilee Hall.

The conversion consisted of re-fronting and adding a clock tower which necessitated
a load-bearing wall being built immediately facing as you enter.

Apart from this wall, the area between the outer doors and the main hall was
an open space used as an ante-room for storage of chairs and tables.
There were no internal stairs at that time and the ground floor was totally
separate and used as a dwelling place.

The access from the Main Hall to Greenfoot, the schoolmaster's house, was blocked off.
Two rooms on the first floor of Dolphin Cottage formed part of the complex -
one facing the Square was a meeting room, while the one behind was a library.

There were no lavatories or washing facilities.
The Hall-keeper's duties were to open up the Hall, set out chairs as required,
light the fire (with fuel and kindling he or she bought out of an allowance),
lock up and clean.
Responsibility for the whole arrangement stemmed from the Marquis who owned
all three properties; the day-to-day running was administered by his Estate Clerk.

The first records in the Hall's possession date from 1913 when
Robert McNaughtan took over as Estate Clerk and came to live in Greenfoot.
His cash-book for Gifford Town Hall has as its first entry,
"June 13th, 1912 From the Northern Cinematograph Co. for concert
£1 less Hallkeeper's charges 5/-".

During the rest of the year there were four other entertainments, all by outside promoters,
a series of 12 weekly dancing classes by Mr. Buck from North Berwick and
an unexplained booking for seven consecutive days by Will Knott.
Total income £6.19.0.

The point of interest is that all hirers were from outwith the village, and this is the pattern
for the next ten years -political meetings, troops billeted during
World War I, lunches, the Hope Trust Lecture, wet weather picnic parties -
all, or almost all, were outside promotions.