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Benn Hall

1961 establishments in EnglandBuildings and structures in Rugby, WarwickshireCulture in WarwickshireEvent venues established in 1961
Benn Hall, Rugby
Benn Hall, Rugby

The Benn Hall is a conference, seminar, exhibition, concert and party venue located in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. The hall, along with the town hall which is located next to it, was opened on 5 July 1961 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It is named after George Charles Benn who in his will of 1895 left £6,000 to the local council to construct a building that would be useful to the town. The first of these buildings was opened in 1900 as a town hall. There is another Benn Hall, also dedicated to George Charles, in the village of Grandborough a few miles south of Rugby. In the 1960s Benn Hall became renown as a venue which attracted some famous names in the world of contemporary music: Some of the acts which performed there included John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Lee Hooker, The Small Faces, Pink Floyd, Status Quo, The Searchers, The Foundations, The Kinks, The Animals, and The Bee Gees. The Beatles had been booked to perform at Benn Hall in February 1963, but did not honour the date, as by then they had become national stars.The building itself has two storeys. The main hall can hold up to 480 people, the smaller Rokeby Room 100 and the smallest room, Caldecott Room can hold 20. Dressing rooms are located beneath the main stage on the lower ground floor level and there is a bar located in the Caldecott Room. Parking for the hall is found in the pay and display car park next to it and Caldecott Park is to the rear of the hall.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Benn Hall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.3756 ° E -1.2643 °
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Address

A426
CV21 2DT , New Bilton
England, United Kingdom
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Benn Hall, Rugby
Benn Hall, Rugby
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Nearby Places

Caldecott Park
Caldecott Park

Caldecott Park is an urban park located in the centre of Rugby, England. Most of the land was purchased by the Rugby Urban District Council in 1903 from Thomas Caldecott, the last lord of the manor. There was additional land purchased to the north of the original park in 1911, bringing the park to its current size of 10.6 acres (43,000 m2). In other respects though the park has changed a lot. There used to be an ornamental lake in the centre of the park, but that was filled in 1922. The Second World War saw the removal of a floral staircase as well as the original iron park railings which were taken away as part of the war effort. The 1970s saw the loss of many of the trees in the park to Dutch Elm Disease. However, in the 1990s there has been a programme of tree replanting. Also in 1996 a series of entertainment events were organised over the summer months. These have continued since and there are also craft fairs, art exhibitions and musical performances on the bandstand. Other attractions include a children's play area, tennis courts, a bowling green and a small kiosk which sells refreshments. Now, to celebrate Saint Georges Day, scouts march from Caldecott park to St Andrews Church. In 2006 the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Rugby Borough Council just under £1,000,000 to restore the park. In November 2007 the final plans had been drawn up and were awaiting final permission to proceed. Plans included: replacing the current fencing with old style fencing like the ones removed in the Second World War; to relay the footpaths; to modernise the play areas; to build a cafe; to develop formal sports pitches and to re-create the floral steps and were passed. Work was completed in spring 2009 and the park was officially opened on 2 May with speeches from local dignitaries and displays by locals schools. In 2013 Caldecott Park was dedicated as a Fields in Trust, Queen Elizabeth II Field - and protected in perpetuity for public recreation.

Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum is a combined art gallery and museum in central Rugby, Warwickshire, in England. The purpose-built building housing it is shared with Rugby library; it was opened in 2000 and was built in the place of Rugby's previous library.The art gallery holds "The Rugby Collection", over 170 items of 20th century and contemporary British art, including prints, drawings and paintings by artists such as L. S. Lowry, Stanley Spencer, Paula Rego and Graham Sutherland. The collection was built up by Rugby Borough Council from 1946 onwards and still collects "works by British artists of 'promise and renown' ". There is also a "Local Art Collection".The museum hosts a collection of Roman artefacts, excavated from the nearby Roman town of Tripontium. It also has a display of the social and industrial history of Rugby, and the "Redding Collection" of some 25,000 mid-20th-century photographic negatives taken at the Rugby photographic studio of George Redding. In December 2006, the Rugby World Cup was exhibited at the museum. The facility became the permanent physical home of the World Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2016. However this was closed in 2021, due to financial pressures on the local council, and lower than expected visitor numbers.The building also houses the town's visitor centre.As part of a national venture called Get it Loud in Libraries, the building has played host to gigs of various music artists such as Plan B and British Sea Power.