Army Hut For Sale

[JohnC]

Does anyone fancy their own WW1 army hut? This one is for sale, in 1/4 acre land, in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. It was brought from Salisbury Plain, installed in January 1921 and opened as the village WI hut in September of that year.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149747009#/?channel=RES_BUY

[Michelle Young]

@Chief_Chum might be interested, or know someone who might be. 

[Moonraker]

I visited the hut this morning, and I suspect that over the years it has had a lot of TLC. The feather-edge boarding looked to be in excellent shape and the window-frames were PVC! I couldn't look inside, but I suspect a lot of work has been done there to make it comfortable for the WI. I was moderately interested to see the brick piers on which the hut rested; on Salisbury Plain these featured on the huts built there early in WWI, but shortages of bricks and bricklayers caused delays; later creosoted wooden piles were used. Sad to say, I don't think that the hut is worth preserving as a heritage item.

Close to the church is a war memorial listing WWI and WWII deaths. I am often struck by the number of fatalities incurred by small communities, but the long list of names was particularly sobering.

[JohnC]

As well as losing a landmark and public facility, the sadness in the village is for the memories of countless birthday parties, jumble sales, weddings and dances that the hut has hosted. Plus school dinners for generations of village kids. During WW2 it was the NAAFI for Canadian soldiers billeted on the adjacent commons, where my gran worked as a cook. Hopefully it’s eventual new owner will respect its heritage.