Welcome to Wickhambrook

It all began on 27th November 1944. A public meeting was called, the venue unknown, the W.I. Hall perhaps. The instigator of this meeting was William Underwood ably assisted by Leonard Harbutt. It was decided that a village hall was needed and that it should be called the MEMORIAL Hall in memory of those that had died in the First World War and for those still giving their lives in the Second. The aid of the Suffolk Rural Community Council was sought. A second meeting was held on the 22nd January 1945, a committee was formed and the planning of the Memorial Hall began. Unfortunately there are no members of that committee alive today.

A further meeting chose the site, the corner of the recreation ground, it also chose the format of the committee. It was decided that every organisation in the village should be represented on it; this with slight adjustment still exists today. Fundraising began and grants were obtained. It took five years to raise the funds and construct the building. It was formally opened on 13th April 1951 by its Chairman Mr Griffiths Woollard. They were obviously not superstitious! We can be proud of their achievements.

Since those early days much has changed. The Hall and Recreation Ground Committees have amalgamated to become the Memorial Social Centre.

However all was not easy in the early sixties monetary crisis loomed and there was talk of ‘putting the hall on rates’ or even closing it and using it as a barn to store corn.

The Community Council was formed in 1966 with the intention of saving the building, modernising and extending it. Once again the fundraising began and grants were obtained. The building as it is seen today is the end result. It gained a refurbished kitchen, a clubroom, a snooker room and a front foyer with modern toilets. It was formally opened in May 1972 by Mrs Eldon Griffiths the wife of the local Member of Parliament.

The pavilion at the rear of the building was added at a later stage, being built mostly by the local football club assisted by other sports clubs.

The Memorial Social Centre is part of an excellent leisure complex which comprises a tennis court, and a bowling green together with a Teen Project Skate/BMX/Sports Park and a children’s play area.

Wickhambrook has some of the best recreational facilities in the area and the village hall is second to none.

We can be proud of our Memorial Social Centre and thank those far sighted villages who, in 1944 during the dark days of the war decided that Wickhambrook should remember its fallen heroes with a living reminder of their deeds. Let us hope the complex continues to thrive and to serve future generations a fitting memorial to those who gave their lives for our freedom.