Newtown Old Town Hall
| Newtown Old Town Hall | |
|
National Trust | |
|---|---|
 Newtown Old Town Hall, front with portico | |
| Grid reference: | SZ42379057 |
| Location: | 50°42’48"N, 1°24’5"W |
| Information | |
| Website: | Newtown Old Town Hall |
Newtown Old Town Hall was built in 1256, and is the town hall of the former mediæval borough of Newtown on the Solent coast of the Isle of Wight in Hampshire. Newtown is now a small village, no longer in need of a grand mediæval hall, and the town hall has been given into the care of the National Trust.[1]
The Old Town Hall is a Grade II* listed building. [2]
Ferguson's Gang
After many years of neglect the building was repaired in 1933 under the supervision of John Eric Miers MacGregor OBE, a specialist conservation architect who managed to save the derelict structure. The repair was funded by 'Ferguson's Gang', a mysterious group of young anonymous benefactors who endowed Newtown Old Town Hall to the National Trust and agreed for it to be run as a Youth Hostel for fifteen years.
An exhibition of the exploits of the Gang can be seen in the building today, which is open to the public during the summer months, for a small admission fee.
The Gang were influenced to save the Old Town Hall by Black Mary, a supporter of Ferguson's Gang and the mother of Peggy Pollard (alias 'Bill Stickers') whose home on the island was close by.[3]
Outside links
- Newtown Old Town Hall – National Trust
References
- ↑ Newtown Old Town Hall
- ↑ National Heritage List 1209336: Newtown Town Hall
- ↑ Hutton-North, Anna (2013). Ferguson's Gang - The Maidens behind the Masks. Lulu Inc. ISBN 978-1-291-48453-3.
- Bagnall, Polly: 'Ferguson's Gang: The Remarkable Story of the National Trust Gangsters' (Pavilion Books, 2015) ISBN 978-1-909-88171-6