History

On 1st January 1935 Mrs Garnett of Great House gifted in trust to the village part of the plot called ‘Snells’ together with the building standing on it for use as a Parish Room.  The trust deed stated that it was for use for all reasonable Parish purposes and for all reasonable recreational, charitable, intellectual or similar purposes as decided by the Parish Council.  However, it was to close by midnight and no intoxicating liquor was to be brought on or consumed on the premises!  The building was a first World War era temporary structure as shown here.

Nearly 3 decades later on 24th October 1963 the trust deed was revised removing the earlier restrictions and placing responsibility on a committee of management composed similarly to that of the current CIO.  This 1963 trust deed was the governing document for the KLVH Trust for the next 53 years.

Over the next two years the village raised funds to buy land to form a recreation ground and after raising £950, with matched funding from Wiltshire County Council, was able to buy the remainder of ‘Snells’, parcel number 210 on the Ordnance Survey map of the time.  This payment also bought out the liability to pay a fee farm rent of £3-8-11d to the Earl of Ilchester.  The conveyance was between the Ody family of the Chestnuts and the Parish Council on behalf of the village.  The conveyance deed set up a charity for the purpose and specified that the Village Hall Management Committee members were to become the Management Trustees.

Due to a misunderstanding of the role of a Custodian Trustee it was assumed that the Parish Council had responsibility for the Recreation Ground and it exercised this responsibility conscientiously by setting up and funding a Playing Fields Association (PFA) reporting to the Council.  Over the years improvements were made, first by installing swings and slides on children’s play areas.  These were very robust as evidenced by the 1967 manufacture plate on the swings replaced in 2020!

A block work pavilion/changing room building was erected facing the hall around 1990 and was used for many years by football and cricket teams.  However, with the demise of team games and by then being in poor condition, it was demolished in 2018 making possible a much-needed extension for the car park.

By the 1980s the WWI temporary hall building was clearly in need of replacement and following a very generous gift by Mrs Burghes in memory of her husband the old building was demolished and a purpose designed hall built on the same site in 1991.

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