Hall users can hardly have missed the large cracks in the walls of the kitchen, along with a number of other problems to do with condensation, mould and door that don't close properly. The good news is that the cracks don't seem to be caused by the usual form of subsidence. The end wall of the hall appears to have settled slightly and also rotated a little, and the cause is likely to be an accumulation of water in a disconnected drainage system. discovered by accident when we were investigating the state of the foundations. By chance, the hole revealed the remains of a catchpit right next to the foundations. After protracted and ongoing investigation, we now know that the pipe running in to the catchpit no longer leads anywhere (though it could still be channeling water into the pit); it looks as if it came from a surface drain nearby. The 1948 map attached shows a 'St Nicholas's Church' which is not the present one; it's the Nissan hut left for use as a temporary church after the estate had been built. The undated (but slightly later) map shows both the old and the present buildings, and it looks as though the north side of the Nissan hut and the present hall are more or less in line. There may have been a drain beyond the east end of the former church, abandoned and filled in in the early 1950s.
