VILLAGE HALL
(The Markington War Memorial Institute)
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In June 1919 a specially convened meeting was held in the schoolroom to decide what form the proposed War Memorial for the village should take.
It was agreed to erect a village reading room and institute.
Funds were raised to purchase a wooden hut 30' x 90' at a cost of £350. A suitable building was found at the Ripon Army Camp, (then being used by the Y.M.C.A.).
It was dismantled and transported to the village by horse and cart and then erected on the current site on land donated by the Wilberforce family.
The opening ceremony took place on the 14th December 1919 and the institute has been in constant use by the village ever since. Except for a period between 1939 and 1942 when it was requisitioned by the Army for use by the troops.
The original hut was eventually pulled down and replaced with the present building in 1973.
It had been decided that although the old building was unsafe, the floor was still serviceable. The present building therefore, was erected around said floor. However only a few years after, the floor was found to be unstable and was duly replaced. (So that is why the present building is the same shape as the original Y.M.C.A. hut)!
It continues today as a meeting place and focal point for the local community.
