St George's Centre is a former school, built in the 19th century, and now a community information and activity centre on the

Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. It is located in the area of Reforne, near the village of Easton. Both the centre and its community hall, which was formerly the school assembly hall, have been a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 1978.

History

St George's School opened in 1857, having been constructed by Hansford and Waight for the cost of £775. It served the children of Tophill, while St John's School, which opened the same year, served Underhill. The school closed in 1969, leaving the building to suffer from years of neglect and vandalism. In 1981, the newly formed Island of Portland Heritage Trust began fundraising to purchase the building from the

Crown Estate Commissioners The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

. The trust were successful and then proceeded to transform the building into a community and craft centre which opened in 1984. The project created over fifty jobs for the unemployed, while the trust, in conjunction with the West Country Tourist Board, opened Portland's first tourist information centre there. The trust continues to own and maintain the building, and relies on hall hire and workshop fees to cover the building's maintenance and overheads. The centre continues to run various programmes and is used by many local organisations. The building's halls consist of the Peter Trim Community Hall, Girt Hall and the Skylark Studio.

References

External links

Official St George's Centre website
{{Schools in Dorset Isle of Portland Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Defunct schools in Dorset