BRINGINGHISTORY HOMEMilford’s first community hall1907OrdnanceSurveyIn a small, triangular, piece of land in what istoday part of Hillyfield Rest Home in BarnesLane, stood Milford Parish Room. Contrary tothe impression given by its name, it wasneither publicly, nor church owned.In 1860 William Talbot Agar bought the MilfordLodge estate. Shortly after, he bought severalother parcels of land in the vicinity, includingRose Cottage, the adjoining carpenter’sworkshop and malthouse (later to becomeHillside House) and a sawpit and wheelwright’son the opposite side of Barnes Lane, which wasto become the site of the Parish Room. By 1868,Agar had sold Milford Lodge and moved toMilford House, but retained the other parcels ofland. The Parish Room is not shown on the 1870edition of the Ordnance Survey, but the firstedition of the Parish Magazine, in August 1886,announced that Bible Classes for men would beheld there on Sunday afternoons.Despite being a modest building of timber witha corrugated iron roof, it was the hub of villageactivity for many years, playing host to theSunday School, C of E Mens’ Society, MilfordDebating Society, Milford and HordleHorticultural Society and others. It was therehearsal room for Milford Village Band andwhist drives, dances, magic lantern shows,jumble sales, concerts and plays were heldthere, in spite of having no facilities or changingrooms. Performers changed in the Pikes’ houseon the other side of Barnes Lane and, for aParish RoomHillyfieldwhile, Mrs Pike was given a small honorariumfor being a keyholder. After Agar died in 1906,his executors sold-off his Milford estate, withthe exception of Milford House which passed toone of his sons. The local paper carried fullreviews of the auction sales, one of whichreported that the executors had generously metwith representatives of The Club, the CottageHospital and the Parish Room and arrangedadvantageous terms for their transfer totrustees. Whilst some detail is available for TheClub and the Hospital, no record exists of whorepresented the Parish Room, or the price.However, the Parish Magazine of April 1908reported that electric light had been installedand, to defray the cost, a hire charge was to beintroduced and that bookings should be madewith the vicar’s wife, whilst also indicating thatrent had to be paid, but did not detail who to.Inevitably, the construction of the VictoriaAssembly Rooms in 1897 (now the CatholicChurch) with its up to date facilities and greatercapacity, meant that larger events were heldthere. The construction of the new Church Hallin Sea Road in 1915 meant that church activitiestransferred there, but the Parish Roomcontinued to be used in World War 1 formeetings and drill for the Home Defence Corps.According to Hylda Bruce, the doctor’s daughterwho lived at Hillyfield, the Parish Room waspulled down in 1918. An article in the localpaper in 1934 assumed that few residentswould remember it and that it had beendemolished by Miss Magnay of Milford Lodge.Whether she was involved in the purchase fromWilliam Agar’s executors, or she acquired it fordemolition is unclear, but she died in 1921 andher estate passed to her sister in law, DameMargaret Magnay. Miss Magnay had arrangedfor Hillyfield to be built in 1905 and the site ofthe Parish Room was in Lady Magnay’sownership and incorporated into the grounds ofHillyfield when she sold the house to Dr Twiss in1938/9.4 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.ukHistory Home project supported by theHeritage Lottery Fund and Milford-on-Sea Parish Council. website www.milfordhistory.org.uk
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