This is an extract from Ayscoughfee and its History published in 1923 and it details how the Hall was bought for the people of Spalding.
AYSCOUGHFEE HALL and Gardens at Spalding, which rank as one of the great attractions of the town, stand as a local memorial of the two historic events the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (1897) and the Coronation of King Edward VII. (1902).
It was as a permanent memorial of the Jubilee of the late queen that the project for the acquisition of the property by the town was brought forward, the inhabitants being indebted for the inception of the scheme to the late Mr Samuel Kingston, J. P., the first Chairman of the Spalding Urban District Council.
The proposal to purchase the estate was well received at a public meeting called to consider the scheme in May, 1897, it being recognised that the town stood in much need of a place of public resort such as the Ayscoughfee Gardens afforded, and that on the few occasions when they had been open Io the public they had always been in popular favour.
As a result of a public subscription, over £1,000 were raised at the onset, and the remainder of the purchase money, which, with legal costs, amounted to £1,100, was borrowed upon the personal security of a number of gentlemen having the interest of the town at heart.
Afterwards, some further liberal contributions were given, and every effort made to reduce the outstanding liability. At a gathering in April, 1901, under the chairmanship of the late Mr G. F. Birch, an additional £ 160 was subscribed. Whit Monday Fete, the same year, realised £100; ‘and this was followed by a two days bazaar in Ayscoughfee Gardens in the summer, which yielded a surplus of something like £350. The debt on the property had by these efforts been reduced to about £450.
Then the idea was mooted of signalising the Coronation of King Edward VII. by clearing of the existing debt, and handing over the property free of charge to the town, the gardens then to be thrown open to the public free, instead of being a matter of an annual subscription, as up to that time had been the case.
It was in May 1902, at a town’s meeting, that the proposal was put on a practical footing. Of the balance of £450 required to free the property, over £200 was subscribed in the room, and the result of a public canvass of the town was that the remaining amount was obtained, and on Coronation Day (August 9th, 1902), the Trustees handed over the property to the town free of debt. It was an historic occasion, and Mr S. Kingston, who handed over the keys to the late Mr G. Hall, as the Chairman of the Urban Council for the year, was cordially thanked for the ability and success with which, despite unexpected difficulties, he had piloted through the undertaking.
The property was acquired from Mrs Johnson, then of Blundeston, Suffolk, but the purchase money (£2, 000) is by no means the present value of the estate, consideration having been paid to the fact that the Hall and gardens were being purchased for the benefit of the town.
From a financial statement, which was prepared upon the completion of the scheme, it transpired that the subscriptions received amounted to £1, 789 1s. 5d., and other items brought the total receipts to £2, 414 6s. 4d. the payments comprised £2,116 16s. 3d., to Messrs. Swan & Bourne, the solicitors acting for Mrs Johnson, for the purchase of the estate and costs. Bank interest absorbed £157, and there were other items of expenditure, but on Coronation Day the account was balanced, and the estate became the property of the town, as mentioned above, free of any incumbrance.
Amongst generous subscribers to the scheme from its inception were the late Mr. S. Kingston, J. P., Mr W. S, Royce, M. P., the late Mr E. W. Gooch, the late Mr G. F. Birch, Mr J. T. White, and many others, whilst Old Spaldonians in various parts of the country, (through the instrumentality of the “Spalding Free Press”) contributed liberally to the enterprise.
As showing those who were associated with the undertaking, it may be mentioned that the original Trustees of the property were Messrs. S. Kingston, G. F. Birch, H. L. Enderby, E. W. Gooch, M. Taylor, and J. T. White, at that time all members of the Spalding Urban Council whilst the Committee of Management consisted of Mr. S. Kingston, chairman; M. r. W. A. Southwell, vice-chairman Messrs. J. T. Atton, G. F. Birch, H. L. Enderby, W. Fletcher, G. W. Ham, G. Hopper, M. Taylor, J. T. White, J. Wilson, E. T. Waring, T. C. Stubbs, H, White, W.White, G. Birch, H. Birch, A. V. Seymour, and E. A. P. Seymour. The Hon. Secretary to the Committee was Mr A. L. Seymour, who some time after the Gardens were opened free, was the recipient of a handsome presentation, in recognition of his valued services.
The following inscription on a tablet placed in the wall in front of the Hall thus records how the property was secured by the town :-
AYSCOUGHFEE HALL AND GARDENS.
ACQUIRED AS A MEMORIAL OF
QUEEN VICTORIA’S DIAMOND JUBILEE,
1897,
AND HANDED OVER TO THE TOWN FREE OF DEBT
AUGUST 9TH. 1902, IN CELEBRATION OF THE
CORONATION OF KING EDWARD VII.
MEMBERS OF THE SPALDING URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL. 1897.
KINGSTON, Esq., J. P., Chairman.
T. ATTON, Vice-Chairman.
| A. AITKEN
E.W. GOOCH G. HOPPER F. SLY G.T. WHITE |
G.F. BIRCH
G. HALL W. JEPSON G. SLY H.L. ENDERBY |
S.R. HARPER W.H. MILLS M. TAYLOR |
H.H. HARVEY Clerk
The property, having passed into the hands of the town, is now managed solely by the Urban Council, through a Committee of that body, appointed for the purpose. At the present time (1923) this body, which goes under the name of the Public Parks and Recreation Grounds Committee, comprises:-Messrs. H. T. Harpham (chairman), M. E. Barker, J. T. Brown, J. J. Chilvers, II, G, Frost, E. H. Gooch, and F. Johnson, also T. H. Padley and F. George (ex-officio)
In the year 1904 it was proposed to convert Ayscoughfee Hall into a Free Library, and the expense of adapting the building for the purpose was offered to be defrayed by Mr Andrew Carnegie, who promised a sum of £800 for that object, whilst there were also other generous offers in support of the project. Unfortunately, however, an objection was taken to the necessary rate for Free Library purposes – though it would not have exceeded 1d.- and upon an informal poll of the parish in December, 1904, the proposal was negatived.
Since then various other proposals have been made regarding these historic grounds and buildings. When King George came to the throne, it was suggested that public baths should be erected, fronting on Cowbit Road, on the site where a useless thicket then existed and which still exists. An architect was engaged and plans drawn, the estimated cost of the baths being £2, 000, but here, again, the proposition was killed on being put to the vote of the townspeople.
In 1918-19 there was much discussion of converting the Hall into a gymnasium and library to be managed by the Y. M. C. A., as a local recognition of the victory vouchsafed to Allied Armies in the Great World War, but, again, a vote of the townspeople nullified the project, the vast majority voting in favour of the Temple of Remembrance which stands in the grounds at the head of the Lake.
