Upper Heyford Reading Room
The Green, Upper Heyford, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX25 5LG
Our Village Reading Room is now available again for private or community hire.
Having recently been restored the Reading Room offers a tasteful and intimate venue space suitable for almost any small event. The building is located on our quiet village green, overlooking the valley, and benefits from having a small play area adjacent to it, designed for toddlers and young children.
The Reading Room has capacity for 60 standing, 50 seated theatre style, or 36 seated at tables, plus up to five servers. It should however be noted that parking facilities are limited, and due to its residential location hirers are asked to keep noise at a reasonable level, particularly after 8pm. The venue is not available for 21st birthday parties or similar functions and hire is at the discretion of the Amenities Committee.
To make an enquiry or booking please contact the Booking Clerk, Barry Parsons, by email: rrhire@upperheyford.com or telephone: 07557 941534.
You can check the availability of the Reading Room by viewing the Upper Heyford Village Reading Room Calendar.
The Reading Room Hire Agreement, Hire Charges, Inventory & Parking facilities diagram are available for download (and see below):
Hire Charges (from 1st November 2022):
Parish Resident Hire Charges:
- Parish Groups: £8 per hour
- Parish Fund Raising Events: £8 per hour
- St Mary’s Church Events: £8 per hour
- Private Parties: £10 per hour
Other Hirers:
- Non Resident Groups: £12 per hour
- Non Resident Fund Raising: £12 per hour
- Private Parties: £12 per hour
- Commercial/Business hire: £12 per hour
(Hiring fees include electricity charges and heating costs, and use of all the facilities and inventory items listed below. The fees are standardised throughout the year. Hirers are given an additional half an hour to set up, and the same again to clean up, free of charge. Charges are applied in ½ hour increments. A Cleaning Deposit of £25 is required (at the Committee’s discretion), and a higher deposit amount may be required for some functions.
Reading Room Facilities:
- Capacity for 60 standing, 50 seated theatre style & 36 seated at tables + up to five servers
- Car park at front of building (capacity 9 with limited overflow a short distance away by the church)
- Disabled access from car park
- Small Entrance lobby
- Single spacious toilet with disabled & baby changing facilities
- Main Room
- Small Kitchen with oven & sink
- Patio with two benched tables & a separate bench
- NB: There is no fridge or hob in the kitchen.
Reading Room Inventory:
Furniture:
- 8 rectangular tables, each seating a maximum of six
- 40 chairs
Kitchenware:
- 2 kettles
- 2 large teapots
- 2 plastic cutting boards
- 6 round serving trays, brown
- 40 ten inch plates
- 40 soup bowls
- 30 tall glasses
- 34 tea/coffee mugs
- 5 small glass milk jugs
- 30 wine glasses
- 37 knives &47 forks
- 36 table / soup spoons
- 35 teaspoons
- 3 soup ladles
Cleaning Materials:
- Mop and Bucket
- Broom
- Toilet cleaner, chrome brush and holder
- Dustpan and brush
- Toilet paper
- Dishwashing liquid
- Disinfectant liquid
- Handwashing liquid
- Jaywipe clothes, Note: no tea towels are provided
- Small bins, kitchen and toilet
- Bin liners
History of Upper Heyford’s Victorian Reading Room
The Reading Room was built in the 1890s for the benefit of the parishioners. It was used as a Reading/Games Room until the 1920s and from then until the school closed in 1992, as the infant classroom.
It now belongs to the parish and was renovated by the community in 2011.