Bawdeswell’s village hall provides flexible and convenient spaces for regular use by local residents and for one-off events for villagers and the wider community.

Established as ‘Bawdeswell Parish Room’ in 1924 when first housed elsewhere in the village, today’s building was made possible by the generous residents of Bawdeswell and by grants from the Parish Council, Breckland Council, the Geoffrey Watling Trust, The Garfield Weston Foundation and the Fitzmaurice Trust, and by a substantial grant from the Big Lottery Fund. Much advice and support in kind was received from Norfolk RCC, Pro-Help, Chaplin Farrant (architects and engineers), Lovewell Blake (Accountants) and Birketts (Solicitors). It was built to a high spec by the local firm, Omnis Construction Limited.

The design of the building is determined by the shape of the land designated for a village hall beside the bowling green. This piece of land was registered in the name of the Bawdeswell Parish Room Charity No. 800970. The rest of the recreation ground, other than the bowling green, is registered in the name of the Parish Council. The village hall became a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) in 2020 and is now registered as Bawdeswell Village Hall Charity No. 1188278.

The main hall has eight roof lights which provide a well-lit space, and large doors at the west end which open onto the reception area, with its view straight through to the patio and onto the Children’s Play area.

The Reception area is a large space giving access to all areas of the building. It is furnished with small tables and chairs and has a bar for serving coffees, teas, ice creams and wine and spirits at specific functions when a licence is obtained. There is a small fridge and freezer and a dishwasher. Patio doors open onto the outdoor seating area where there are picnic tables, and parasols in summer.

There are two further rooms, the larger seen as an Activities Room and the smaller as a Meeting Room. Both have large windows looking south over the recreation field.

On the north side is the kitchen with a hatch to the main hall, two ovens, a fridge, freezer, a commercial dishwasher, a boiling water point and work benches.

There is a separate disabled toilet for wheelchair users and with a babychange facility; both the male and female toilets have one cubicle each that meets ambulatory disabled standards.

There are two sets of changing rooms also accessible separately from the north side of the building with toilets to be used as either “male” and “female”, or for “home” and “away” team events.

Outside there are patio areas, on the west side looking towards the Children’s Play area and a narrow area along the north side providing a viewing space for the bowling-green.