Shillinglee and the Winterton family
The history of Winterton Hall begins at Shillinglee, the great house and estate west of Plaistow. The Turnour family held Shillinglee for generations, and its farms, woods, gardens, stables and estate buildings supplied employment across the northern part of the old Kirdford parish. Agricultural labourers, gardeners, gamekeepers, grooms, domestic servants, brickmakers, foresters and estate craftsmen worked within a landscape administered from Shillinglee Park.
Edward Turnour, fifth Earl Winterton, was born in 1837 and succeeded his father as Earl Winterton in 1879. He married Lady Georgiana Susan Hamilton, who became Countess Winterton, and the couple made Shillinglee their Sussex home. The fifth Earl also played first-class cricket for Sussex and the Marylebone Cricket Club during the 1860s. He died at Plaistow on 5 September 1907.
Holy Trinity Church at Plaistow received stained glass commemorating the fifth Earl. A second memorial took shape in a secular building intended for the organised life of the village. The hall was erected during the following year and was ready in November 1908.
A Village Hall and Institute in 1908
The current parish history records that the widowed Countess Winterton presented the hall to Plaistow in memory of her husband. Kelly’s Directory of Sussex in 1915 described it as a “Village Hall and Institute,” erected in 1908 as a memorial to Edward, fifth Earl Winterton, by his widow and son. The son was Edward Turnour, sixth Earl Winterton, who had succeeded to the title after his father’s death.
The sixth Earl had been elected Member of Parliament for Horsham in a by-election on 11 November 1904, when he was twenty-one and the youngest member of the House of Commons. The earldom belonged to the Irish peerage, allowing him to retain his Commons seat after succeeding to the title in 1907. His parliamentary service continued through Horsham, Horsham and Worthing, and Horsham again until 25 October 1951.
The words “hall” and “institute” defined the building’s intended range. A hall provided accommodation for public meetings, concerts, dances, dinners and performances. An institute supported regular membership, lectures, reading, games, instruction and organised recreation. Plaistow gained a permanent secular meeting room beside the church, school, inn and shops in November 1908.
Red brick beside Cox’s Pond
Winterton Hall stands in Loxwood Road at the centre of Plaistow. Plaistow Stores adjoins one side of the site, while Cox’s Pond lies on the other. Holy Trinity Church, Plaistow and Kirdford Primary School, the Sun Inn and the village green occupy the surrounding junction and short approaches. Two public noticeboards outside the hall continue the site’s role in circulating local information.
The Chichester District Council conservation appraisal identifies the Winterton Memorial Hall as a positive building within the Plaistow Conservation Area. It records red brick with white-brick dressings, materials that distinguish the hall from the timber framing, tile hanging, plaster, sandstone and clay tiles of the older village buildings. The hall’s long, practical form faces Loxwood Road and Cox’s Pond.
The main room was designed for rapid changes of use. Chairs could be arranged for a meeting or performance, tables could fill the floor for a supper or sale, and cleared space accommodated dancing and games. Service rooms supported refreshments, storage and committee work within the Village Hall and Institute.
Clubs, meetings and village entertainment
The hall entered a village already rich in organised activity. Cricket and football teams drew players from Plaistow and the surrounding farms, the Women’s Institute developed a strong local presence, and church and social organisations arranged seasonal gatherings. Winterton Hall supplied the indoor setting for committees, rehearsals, refreshments, prize-giving, lectures and evening entertainment.
Amateur drama became one of its most memorable uses. Local performers rehearsed dialogue, constructed scenery, prepared costumes and presented plays to audiences drawn from Plaistow, Ifold, Shillinglee and nearby farmsteads. The stage, lighting and crowded floor of Winterton Hall became part of village life before the Second World War.
Tilly of Bloomsbury under wartime skies
The Second World War brought military traffic, civil-defence duties and blackout conditions into Plaistow. Residents served in Air Raid Precautions, the Home Guard, the Women’s Land Army and voluntary organisations. Canadian troops were billeted at Shillinglee House, placing servicemen and military vehicles on the roads around the village.
In April 1941 Plaistow Social Club staged Ian Hay’s comedy Tilly of Bloomsbury at Winterton Hall. Edward Horsman, a local Air Raid Precautions volunteer, produced the play and appeared as the worldly Mr Stillbottle. Edward Turnour, sixth Earl Winterton, attended in his capacity as president of the club.
The lights failed during the third act while many enemy aircraft were overhead. The crowded audience included children, yet the room remained orderly and the actors continued. Eileen Johnson and John Ingram carried the scene through the darkness, and the performance resumed under conditions reported by the West Sussex Gazette and South of England Advertiser on 24 April 1941.
The sixth Earl wrote to praise the company and the audience. A professional actress living locally as an evacuee also sent an assessment of the production, singling out the acting, scenery and lighting and the work of Edward Horsman. Her account placed a full house, amateur theatre and an air-raid interruption within the Winterton Hall.
Transfer to Plaistow Parish Council
The hall’s legal history changed after the war. A conveyance dated 9 June 1951 transferred Winterton Hall to Plaistow Parish Council. Parish records state that the consideration was one pound, and the property remained subject to restrictive covenants contained in the conveyance.
The transfer placed the freehold in local public hands. The Parish Council held the hall while village committees arranged bookings, events, repairs and fundraising. The building’s insurance, maintenance and equipment became recurring responsibilities attached to the Loxwood Road property.
The charitable trust of 1961
On 22 March 1961 Plaistow Parish Council executed a declaration of trust for Winterton Hall. The declaration placed the property on charitable trusts and created the charity later registered under number 305406. The Parish Council acted as custodian trustee, holding the legal title, while managing trustees carried responsibility for administration and the use of the hall.
The management committee organised lettings, accounts, insurance, repairs, events and improvements. Hall income came from hire charges, committee events, grants and local fundraising. The 1961 trust remained the governing framework used by the Winterton Hall Management Committee for more than sixty years.
Pre-school, youth club and regular users
Plaistow Pre-School was established in 1966 as a community-based voluntary organisation and operated from Winterton Hall. Its weekday use brought children and families into the building throughout the school term, with a dedicated outdoor play garden adjoining the hall.
Youth provision developed at the rear of the site. The Youth Club gained planning permission for a play area in October 1994 and raised funds during the following year. An annexe, outdoor multi-sports area and the registered address of Plaistow Youth Club remain associated with the rear of Winterton Hall.
The hall also accommodated Parish Council meetings, tea groups, local-history lectures, fitness sessions, martial arts, private parties and committee-run entertainments. Volunteers from the Wey and Arun Canal used the kitchen and showers during working visits, and summer events could extend across the road onto the village green under approved traffic arrangements.
Refurbishment and new governance
Successive committees renewed the building’s services while retaining its early-twentieth-century exterior. The present facilities include a modern kitchen, heating, lighting, lavatories, showers, tables, chairs, stage equipment and limited parking. Recent refurbishment prepared the main room for clubs, classes, meetings, performances and private events.
During the 2020s the Parish Council and hall committee reviewed the trust, legal title and long-term responsibility for the property. A new charitable incorporated organisation, Plaistow Village Hall Community Partnership, was registered as charity number 1212248. On 1 August 2025 the original Winterton Hall charity transferred its funds to the new organisation.
Winterton Hall continues to serve as Plaistow’s village hall from Loxwood Road, Plaistow, West Sussex, RH14 0PX. Plaistow Pre-School uses the building during school terms, the Youth Club occupies accommodation at the rear, and parish meetings, classes, clubs and family celebrations fill the main room beside Cox’s Pond.
