The Ansty Village Centre History
Ansty Village Hall marks its centenary with a new Village Centre
Timeline
Cricket at Ansty
1888
In September 1888, an Ansty side played cricket against a side from Cuckfield in a field at Harvest Hill. Over the years Ansty sides played at two other locations around the village, at Highbridge and on land adjacent to the Green Cross Inn, before the cricket club moved to the Recreation Ground just before the Second World War.
Ansty Village Hall
1920-21
In August 1920, the first trustees purchase the existing Village Hall site from Lt Colonel Bertram Norman Sergison- Brooke for the erection of ‘a building or buildings to be used for the purpose of a reading and recreation room and generally for the enjoyment of the people resident in or near Anstye’. In 1921 a First World War hut, previously used by the Canadian Army, was erected by local men on the site, and continues to serve as the Village Hall after almost 100 years.
The Ansty Women’s Institute, founded in March 1918, one of the earliest Institutes, used the Hall from 1921, relying on oil lamps for light.
Ansty Recreation Ground
1937
In October 1937, the Rural District Council of Cuckfield purchase the Recreation Ground from the then Sir Bertram Norman Sergison-. Cricket and football have been played on Recreation Ground ever since.
Second World War
1939-44
Throughout the Second World War the Village Hall was used as the meeting place for the Anstye Platoon of the Home Guard.
Ansty Social Club
1953
A brick extension to the village hall was built by a local company, Gibson & Baker, to provide the premises for the social club.
Football at Ansty
1958
Football was first played on the Recreation Ground in the 1958-9 season with Ansty playing several friendly matches in advance of the club entering the Mid Sussex Football League for the 1959-60 season.
National Village Cup and Ansty Sports & Social Club
1973-74
In 1973 Ansty CC were the Sussex Finalists in tne National Village Cup competition. The following year, in March 1974, Mrs Charles Keyser opened the extension of the Ansty Sports and Social Club, including a snooker room and changing facilities for cricket and football.
Ansty Village Hall Trust
1993
In October 1993 the Trust is registered with the Charity Commission to provide and maintain a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the village of Ansty ‘for meetings, lectures and classes, and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants’.
Ansty Village Centre Trust
2015
The Ansty Village Centre Trust was established to promote community recreation and participation in sport in Ansty and the surrounding area. The Trust is brings together the Parish Council, the Village Hall Trust, the Sports and Social Club, and the Cricket Club. Its role is to oversee the construction of a new Ansty Village Centre and its operation.
Premier League Cricket at Ansty
2016
The 1990’s saw a period of success for Ansty CC in the Print Machine League leading to the club entering the Sussex Invitation League in 1997. This was followed by the club’s eventual progression into the Sussex Cricket League and promotion to the Sussex Premier League for the 1997 season, and the opening match away to Cuckfield. Not to be outdone, in 2016 Ansty Ladies CC achieved promotion to the Women’s Cricket Southern League Premier division, the top club competition in the south of England, and have remained at that level ever since.
Ansty Village Centre
2020