History

A Brief History of the Hall

The hall was built in September 1885, led by Thomas Sutton Townsend, Lord of the Manor in Clifton upon Dunsmore. At the time, it was named Clifton and Newton Working Men’s Club.

On Easter Monday, April 6th 1885 Mrs Townsend performed the ceremony of laying the foundation stone. The entire build was reported to be an estimated £895.00 including a caretakers cottage and two further cottages. Each of these can still be seen today.

Placed underneath is a cavity, including a bottle which contains newspapers of differing political persuasions, Rugby papers from the previous Saturday, a few silver coins and specimens of Maundy money from the previous Thursday. There was also an old thick copper penny dated 1857.

In 1922, Mrs Mary Frances Roscoe, Mr T. S. Townsend’s daughter renamed the club ‘The Townsend Memorial Hall’. This was done in memory of Captain Thomas Ainsworth Townsend, son of Thomas Sutton Townsend, who was killed in action during the First World War.

In 1990, a committee became responsible for the management of the hall, funded by letting fees of the rooms and cottage, and fundraising events. Since then, there have been numerous refurbishments, and the TMH Committee continues to push forward ideas for improving the hall.