Multi functional hall and rooms once used for many purposes including, WW1 hospital, Church activities, classes, Primary school and a successful Choral society. (The piano once used here is currently in the Freemasons Masonic Hall, Paddock Wood. 2022)

The Parochial Hall Paddock Wood before the War Memorial was in place ©

The Parochial Hall was built at the junction of Commercial Road and Station Road by an architect and builder from Tunbridge Wells. The building was constructed of red brick with Bath stone dressing. The clock attached to the hall was a memorial to Queen Victoria and was financed by local subscription.

Laying the foundation stone of the Parochial Hall Paddock Wood. Mr Horrocks of Mascalls can be seen at the centre looking at the stone which commemorated his late wife Mary Horrocks. They were the grandparents of Sir Frederick Morgan who went on to be famous for planning D Day of WW2. This faces the railway station before the (current, 2022) Nat West Bank building was there. ©

FoundationStone “ This Hall was erected in memory of Mary Elizabeth wife of Major Horrocks of Mascalls by her husband and many friends Whit Monday 1901. This stone was known to be somewhere in Paddock Wood when the hall was tragically demolished in 1967. No one has told where it is. ©

The Hall was first used on 5th October 1901 and was multi-functional. It had a large hall and a smaller room at the back known as the Parish Room. It was used for prayer meetings, mothers’ meetings, technical classes, library, and other small meetings. It was also equipped for gymnastics and billiards for the men’s social club. The Choral Society rehearsed here and band music was played. The original piano from here is in the Masonic Hall (2022)

The music festival and choral group in the Parochial Hall. Mary Horrocks thought to be standing third from right middle row. Her ghost, along with others is said to haunt the Red Cross shop now on the site (2022) A medium identified her from this picture some years ago. ©

During WW1 the First World War 1914-18, the hall was used as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) Hospital for wounded soldiers, some among them being Belgians.

It was also used as an annex of the Primary School for a number of years and local people have shared many memories of that. There was a chimney in the centre of the classroom which served to heat the area. There was a guard there to protect against burns. One little girl used to run home to her nanny’s in Old Kent Road and the caretaker came on his bike to fetch her back to school.

In 1965 the Trustees of the time decided to demolish the hall and sell the land for development. This happened despite a huge amount of campaigning including articles in the local and national press. They also wanted to move the War Memorial, but after an enormous protest, it was agreed that the Memorial should stay.

The sale price was reduced from £26,700 to £19,000. The developers demolished the Hall in March 1967; even the clock crashed to the ground. The only thing to be saved was the foundation stone laid by Major Horrocks of Mascalls who lived at Mascalls, the ancestral home of the family, in memory of his wife Elizabeth.

Mrs. Horrocks had died in 1899. Major Horrocks died in 1908 and both are buried in the former St. Andrew’s Churchyard.

Poignantly news of the death of Lt. General Sir Frederick Morgan, in Northwood Mddx. reached Paddock Wood at the time this special memorial to his grandmother was demolished in 1967.

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Parochial Hall Paddock Wood

War Memorial Paddock Wood

Old St Andrews Church