History
Church House was built in 1831 as a Sunday School by Rev Charles Baring. The building housed the Girls School from 1832 until 1962 when it was purchased by the Church. Church House is now used for three main purposes – Church functions, housing the community library and as a community facility.
The first of these took place in 1998/9 when the County Council agreed to relocate the village library from its condemned premises to Church House if sufficient funds could be raised to refurbish the building to required standards. The necessary funds were raised by contributions from the County, District and Parish Councils along with a significant sum raised from (and by) local residents and business. The refurbished building, with library was officially opened in 2000 with a blessing from the Bishop of Oxford.
In 2012 a major grant was obtained from 'The Big Society Fund' to enable the refurbishment and reconfiguring of the layout. This included a meeting room which could be used whilst the library was open. The aim was to provide greater flexibility so that we could increase the utilisation of the building and provide for a community hub. A very good example is Village Coffee on a Friday morning. The wonderful mural was designed and painted for us by Tudor Hall Girls School and the opening was celebrated with a blessing by Bishop Colin Fletcher.
Management Committee
Church House is administered by the Church House Management Committee, which has representatives from St Mary's PCC, FOCAL, Oxfordshire County Council Library Service, and of course the Library Manager. Our aim is to provide a venue with a well maintained building having all the necessary facilities to host a variety of gatherings to help serve the requirements of the many activities that take place in the village.
Library
Adderbury Library is a small, friendly library at the heart of the local community located within Church House. The library is supported by FOCAL, in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District Council and Adderbury Parish Council. Focal is a registered charity, established in 1997, to prevent library services being lost from our area. Opening times are as follows:
Monday Closed
Tuesday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 4.00 pm - 7.00 pm
Friday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Saturday 9.30 am - 1.00 pm
Tuesday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 4.00 pm - 7.00 pm
Friday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Saturday 9.30 am - 1.00 pm
Facilities
Church House is a community resource, used by the church and available to the local community for meetings, parties and other social events. Our large main hall and gallery meeting room are available for hire. The kitchen will serve your catering needs including tables, chairs, cutlery, crockery, oven and hob. The whole building is on one level with no steps so is accessible by all. Free Wifi is available