Residents of a north Norfolk village have been reacting with sadness to the ‘devastating’ loss of their village hall in a suspected arson attack.
On Tuesday (January 31), as people in Walsingham went to inspect the remains of the building on Wells Road, which was gutted in a fire the night before, their thoughts were also turning to the past.
Elizabeth Meath-Baker, 63, a parish councillor, said: "It's very sad. There was a big fundraising effort to build it back in the 1970s.
"The whole village clubbed together and had dances.”
A farmer and public figure named Tom Moore had assembled a committee and made it happen, she said.
Over the years, the building, which is owned by the Walsingham Recreation Trust, has played host to various events including Friday night discos, birthday parties, weddings and a pop-up cinema.
While recent years have seen a decline in bookings, the hall was still being used by organisations including youth groups run by the church, home-schoolers and as a polling station during elections.
Most recently the building was being used on the first and third Tuesdays of every month as a community supermarket run by Wells Community Hospital.
Two weeks ago, members of the parish council had formed a village hall refurbishment group to talk about how to improve the building.
Ms Meath-Baker said: "We were just talking about modernising it, better insulation, things we might want to build on.
"It's not something you'd imagine could happen. It's a shock,” she added.
"All we can do now is come to terms with it, see what we can salvage, if anything, and talk about what to do next."
Fire crews from Wells, Fakenham and Holt were called to the scene at 4.30pm on Monday (January 30) and spent almost three hours tackling the fire.
Norfolk Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident as a suspected arson attack.
It is believed the blaze started in a wheelie bin that was sitting outside the kitchen door at the side of the building.
The flames then caught hold of the hall itself and in less than an hour, despite the best efforts of the firefighters, the roof had collapsed.
Crews stayed on the scene until 10pm, dampening down any remaining embers.
The village hall was also home to the Walsingham Village Archive (WVA), which last year moved its collection of local historical documents into a room there.
It is hoped the room itself, and also the archive, was not damaged in the fire.
Tim McDonald, co-curator with the WVA, said that although they cannot currently access the room, the situation "looks promising".
"The archive might be untouched but water damage might be a problem," he added.
The documents include the writings of Howard Fears, a local historian, as well as a collection of "irreplaceable" photographs.
Lee Acton, 48, another parish council member, said: "The hall is not as busy as it used to be. It doesn't get used as much as it used to about 10 years ago.
"But we do need a village hall."
Stephen Ramm, 64, went to the scene at approximately 4.15pm. By that time the fire had already spread to the roof.
“My wife shouted to me there was a fire. She saw the smoke and the commotion outside.
"It must have started at about 4pm because it was well alight by 4.15pm," he said.
Inside the building is the main hall, a bar, a kitchen and a smaller meeting room overlooking the village recreation ground.
John Williamson, 77, who lives near the building, said: "It's absolutely devastating. When I saw it had got into the hall, I had a tear in my eye.
"A lot of the village spent years raising money for it to be built. That was a really big project to raise enough money."
A woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "I'm very upset about it because it took years and years of fundraising to make the building possible.
"We used to have carnivals and fetes to raise the money.
"It's an awful shame."
Six years ago, her daughter's surprise 50th birthday party was celebrated in the hall.
"It was a nice place to have it. The children could all play in the playpark in the recreation ground."
But the woman insisted the village would raise money to build a new village hall.
"We're pretty good at it," she said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here