VV june july 2022

BRINGING
HISTORY HOME
Milford’s first community hall
1907
Ordnance
Survey
In a small, triangular, piece of land in what is
today part of Hillyfield Rest Home in Barnes
Lane, stood Milford Parish Room. Contrary to
the impression given by its name, it was
neither publicly, nor church owned.
In 1860 William Talbot Agar bought the Milford
Lodge estate. Shortly after, he bought several
other parcels of land in the vicinity, including
Rose Cottage, the adjoining carpenter’s
workshop and malthouse (later to become
Hillside House) and a sawpit and wheelwright’s
on the opposite side of Barnes Lane, which was
to become the site of the Parish Room. By 1868,
Agar had sold Milford Lodge and moved to
Milford House, but retained the other parcels of
land. The Parish Room is not shown on the 1870
edition of the Ordnance Survey, but the first
edition of the Parish Magazine, in August 1886,
announced that Bible Classes for men would be
held there on Sunday afternoons.
Despite being a modest building of timber with
a corrugated iron roof, it was the hub of village
activity for many years, playing host to the
Sunday School, C of E Mens’ Society, Milford
Debating Society, Milford and Hordle
Horticultural Society and others. It was the
rehearsal room for Milford Village Band and
whist drives, dances, magic lantern shows,
jumble sales, concerts and plays were held
there, in spite of having no facilities or changing
rooms. Performers changed in the Pikes’ house
on the other side of Barnes Lane and, for a
Parish Room
Hillyfield
while, Mrs Pike was given a small honorarium
for being a keyholder. After Agar died in 1906,
his executors sold-off his Milford estate, with
the exception of Milford House which passed to
one of his sons. The local paper carried full
reviews of the auction sales, one of which
reported that the executors had generously met
with representatives of The Club, the Cottage
Hospital and the Parish Room and arranged
advantageous terms for their transfer to
trustees. Whilst some detail is available for The
Club and the Hospital, no record exists of who
represented the Parish Room, or the price.
However, the Parish Magazine of April 1908
reported that electric light had been installed
and, to defray the cost, a hire charge was to be
introduced and that bookings should be made
with the vicar’s wife, whilst also indicating that
rent had to be paid, but did not detail who to.
Inevitably, the construction of the Victoria
Assembly Rooms in 1897 (now the Catholic
Church) with its up to date facilities and greater
capacity, meant that larger events were held
there. The construction of the new Church Hall
in Sea Road in 1915 meant that church activities
transferred there, but the Parish Room
continued to be used in World War 1 for
meetings and drill for the Home Defence Corps.
According to Hylda Bruce, the doctor’s daughter
who lived at Hillyfield, the Parish Room was
pulled down in 1918. An article in the local
paper in 1934 assumed that few residents
would remember it and that it had been
demolished by Miss Magnay of Milford Lodge.
Whether she was involved in the purchase from
William Agar’s executors, or she acquired it for
demolition is unclear, but she died in 1921 and
her estate passed to her sister in law, Dame
Margaret Magnay. Miss Magnay had arranged
for Hillyfield to be built in 1905 and the site of
the Parish Room was in Lady Magnay’s
ownership and incorporated into the grounds of
Hillyfield when she sold the house to Dr Twiss in
1938/9.
4 To For advertise further information call 01590 visit the 643969/07801 MOSHRS website which 562358 is a core or part e-mail of its Bringing info@lymingtondirectory.co.uk
History Home project supported by the
Heritage Lottery Fund and Milford-on-Sea Parish Council. website www.milfordhistory.org.uk