The scheduled work commenced on Monday 21st March 2016. The work completed the Court Hall was handed back to The Friends for an informal opening on Saturday 7th April 2016. The Court Hall was formally opened on Saturday 14th April 2016.
The scheduled work commenced on Monday 21st March 2016. The work completed the Court Hall was handed back to The Friends for an informal opening on Saturday 7th April 2016. The Court Hall was formally opened on Saturday 14th April 2016.
The next task was to raise the necessary funding, estimated to be in the order of £20,000 to £30,000 to bring the building back to its original condition. A fund raising drive was initiated through grant funding and donations.
In July 2015 an application was made to SITA Trust under the Landfill Communities Fund for a significant amount of funding. The application was successful and given that some of the work was weather sensitive was scheduled to start in the spring of 2016
After many hours of meetings between the Friends Group and Swale Borough Council and following the establishment of the Friends as a registered charity (March) a 25 year lease was signed (April). The Court Hall opened again as a museum for 5 days.
John Clancy wrote a book called “A Short History of the Court Hall and its role within the town of Milton Regis”. The book was donated by John. The cost of production was generously donated by the Nicholls family.
In 2011 a small group of people came together to form a Friends group and asked the Court Hall’s owner, Swale Borough Council, if they could take on the responsibility for maintaining the building and reopen it as a museum. An architectural survey showed that a sizeable financial commitment was needed to undertake the necessary programme of restoration work but undeterred, the Friends of Milton Regis Court Hall set about formalising themselves and began negotiating with the Council for a 25-year lease.
Following extensive neogations with Swale Brough Council, HRGS operated another Court Hall museum. Sometime later due to financial implications the museum was abandoned.
One of the 1987 groups, Sittingbourne Archaeological Group, was wound up and its assets transferred to the Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne (HRGS)
The refurbishment of Milton High Street including the area around the Court Hall and establishment of a conservation area.
The revival of the Milton Regis Society led to the formation of a Joint managment Committee by three interested groups.
In the 1980’s Sittingbourne society assisted with operating the museum.