The Village Hall, was built in 1926 as a Peace Commemoration Hall (after the First World War) containing a reading room and billiard table. It was extended and refurbished in 2005 to bring it up to current standards. The hall is well used by the local community and is available to hire for all sorts of events.
ETAL VILLAGE HALL ARCHIVE ROOM
Over the years, a large amount of historical information about the local area has been accumulated and been stored away at Etal Village Hall. Much of this, including a lot of old photographs, was gathered together for a local history exhibition that was staged in the hall during summer 2008. This exhibition was put on to mark the 100th anniversary of Etal becoming part of Ford-and-Etal Estates under the ownership of the Joicey family.
In 2023/24 three members of the hall management committee participated in a Village Halls Heritage project led by Community Action Northumberland. This led to the discovery of more specific historical details about the building itself, and ultimately led to the decision to create the book described here, which was released to celebrate the Centenary of Etal Peace Commemoration Hall in January 2026.
The small room on the righthand side as you enter the front door has now been repurposed as a local Archive Room. Here you can find well-organised, labelled folders containing all sorts of local history items from newspaper articles to photos to copies of letters and old documents. A wealth of oral history recordings are also left out next to audio equipment so that these can be listened to in situ. Many of these were recorded around the millennium, others more recently as part of the aforementioned Heritage Project. A few illustrated historical information panels are also on show around the walls of the Archive Room - these were salvaged from the English Heritage museum at Etal Castle when it was de-commissioned.
Four pop-up banners were created in 2024 using information and images collected during the Heritage project, and when not out on display in the main hall these are stored in the Archive Room.
Members of the public are very welcome to visit the Archive Room at any time to browse through the many interesting historical items on display. Just get in touch to let us know if you are interested, and you can be given direct access to the room.
Oral Histories
Some committee members have been researching the history of the hall and part of that research included recording the memories some local residents had of their use of the hall.
Below are links which can be followed to hear those recordings:-
James Joicey - https://youtu.be/0V6lSvvYbPg
John Abercrombie - https://youtu.be/ruOrOfafECE
Henry Thompson - https://youtu.be/NvJ1637ytiE
Jim Cockburn - https://youtu.be/jfZ6WKT5-kY
Helen Moffit - https://youtu.be/9U92_0sZSd8
Cheryl Stewart - https://youtu.be/It0X9dpaTeM
Hazel Taylor - https://youtu.be/XqsR0PiVP4c
Steve Taylor - https://youtu.be/U94fU4roZS8
Stewart Howson - https://youtu.be/NJZ4En6kkJs
Etal Hall History Book.
2026 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the hall by Col. Hugh Joicey in January 1926.
A great night was enjoyed by many in Etal Hall on 10th January to celebrate the centenary of the hall and to launch a new book, which was put together by Helen Moffit, Eric Musgrave and Steve Taylor:
Etal Village Hall - The first One Hundred Years.
These cost £10 and will soon be available in the local shops, or contact Helen on hmoffitsvq@btinternet.com All profits go into hall funds.