Woodville is a small semi-rural community on the Paterson River, in the Lower Hunter Valley, Australia. Our School of Arts is a quaint old timber building that has been at the heart of community life since 1877. It has served many purposes in that time - as a meeting place, a flood refuge and a war memorial, as a venue for weddings, dances and parties, wakes and educational talks, political rallie
s, musical performances and children's play. Throughout its history, the hall has been owned and managed by community volunteers. Our pride in it symbolises our respect for our land and our community. Historical documents suggest that the School of Arts has origins that go back to at least 1870, when the members of our community held weekly meetings of a Mutual Improvement Society. "The usual business conducted was the admission of new members, debates, readings and recitations." When the church schoolroom they used became unavailable after June 1876, the society's President, John Pearse, offered some land to build a meeting room. At a special meeting on 29 September, 1876, the society changed its name to the Woodville School of Arts and decided to erect a wooden building. Builders W & A King completed the frame by 1 February 1877, and the members completed the work. That building served for 45 years until the much larger present building replaced it on land bought by the School of Arts committee. It was officially opened by Mrs J.F. Munday on Thursday, 9 August 1923: "The function took the form of a social, with tea and dance, the music being supplied by Gilligan's orchestra." Ceilings and lining were completed later and electricity was connected in 1931. The hall has long had a close association with its neighbour, the Iona Public School.
