A Brief History of Boston Spa Scout & Guide Hall
The Hall stands on a plot of land purchased on 9th January 1852 by William Swinden, Robert Larder, William Smith, Thomas Lawrence and Thomas Firth on behalf of the Primitive Methodists from James Torevel of Thorp Arch, for the sum of Thirty One Pounds Eighteen Shillings and Nine Pence on a nine hundred and ninety nine year lease to erect a Chapel. Following completion of the building in 1870, the Hall was granted Charity Status by the Charity Commission on the 1st November 1873.
The Hall was managed by a number of Methodist trustees during the ensuing years, and during this time an acquisition was made of two cottages and land to the rear of the Hall in 1919 for the sum of £650, and in March 1920 the land which forms the access down the side of the hall was purchased for the sum of £10. (Ownership of this strip of land was disputed in 1979 by the then neighbours Barley’s, it was however clarified that the drive did in fact belong to the Hall, and subject to certain restrictions neighbours were entitled to have access over it).
Scout and Guide HallThe Methodists decided in 1934 to dispose of the hall due to it no longer being required as a Chapel, following this decision it was sold to Leonard Stanley Middleton, Reginald Walker Lee and Audrey Andrews in November 1935 for the sum of £206. These three admirable people then created a Deed of Trust that the Hall be used as the headquarters of the Scouts and Guide Groups of Boston Spa, until such time future trustees deemed it impractical or unwanted for such a purpose.
Following the deaths of Mr Lee and Mr Middleton, in 1965 Henry Ormond and Herbert Vincent Laurie were appointed as trustees. In 1983 two new trustees Mrs Muriel Field and Mr Peter Townsend were appointed following the death of Mr Henry Ormond. With the demise of Herbert Laurie, Audrey Andrews and Peter Townsend, in 1990 Jean Collinson and Gwilym Jones were invited to serve along with Muriel Field as the current trustees.