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DATCHET VILLAGE HALL

The opportunity to build a new village hall for Datchet was created by a Datchet resident and benefactor Mr Denys Randolph who established a charitable trust called the Datchet Recreational Centre Charitable Trust, DRCCT, in 1967. He bequeathed a sum of £6250 for the purchase of land on which a new recreation centre could be built.

At the time Mr Randolph lived at Nutt’s Corner in Montagu Rd and he owned the well-known company Wilkinson Sword. Having recently sold the razor blade section of his business to Gillette and thereby come into a considerable sum of money, he wished to use some of this wealth for the benefit of the village; hence the establishment of the DRCCT with its bequest of £6250.

Shortly after the establishment of the trust the trustees bought a piece of land which lies between the ditch on the Recreation Ground and the Horton Road. This strip of land had been owned by Mr Frederick Sabatini who in the 1940s bought the house in Horton Road called The Lawn, including this strip of land which was part of the Lawn's property. The Trust bought the land from his widow in 1967 using Denys Randolph’s bequest. Not surprisingly this piece of land is known as the Sabatini land and it is, to this day, owned by the DRCCT.

The Parish Council of the day then set about the task of planning a new Hall and raising the necessary funds for its construction and its furnishings. This they did successfully and the new Village Hall was completed and opened in 1976. The total cost was £118,000. It is interesting to note that £90,000 of this was raised by the compulsory purchase of allotment land for the development of the houses in the Holmlea estate.

The Village Hall has been run for many years by a committee of volunteers, representing various village organisations, as a part of the charity originally set up by Denys Randolph in 1967, namely the DRCCT.