If you don’t already know, St James’s Church Barn is a church hall in a converted barn of mediaeval origin with whitewashed walls and open rafters to the ceiling, in a lovely location next to St James’s Church (at the end of Church End).
Up until 1977, St James’s Church did not have a hall, but then an old barn was purchased from Church Farm for £5,000, suitably converted and refurbished, and is now a focal point for the community.
The refurbishment was part of a Church of England youth scheme as a way out of the dole for school-leavers, through ‘on the job’ training.
Fast-forward to 2025 and the Barn is a community centre available to book for parties, small events and classes, with a capacity for up to 50 people. It comprises a main hall (which measures 12.4m x 5.3m), a well-equipped kitchen, two toilets, ramp access, baby changing and disabled facilities.
As well as being the focus for many church-related activities, the Barn is available for hire, and we have many groups using it on a regular basis:
For adults:
- Ukrainian Community Evening
- Mediaeval Combat (from June)
- St James’s Book Club
- Biddenham Handbell Ringers
- U3A Handbell Ringers
- Fitness Pilates
- St James’s Choir Practice
- Sewing Classes (from July)
- St James’s Church Coffees
For children:
- Disco Duck Dance Classes
- Tappy Toes Dance Classes (from September)
We also have many one-off event bookings for children’s parties (we can accommodate a small bouncy castle inside with plenty of space for soft play), family gatherings, baby showers, christenings and meetings, and we have other ad-hoc events happening during the year, such as Meg’s Willow Weaving and Bedford Tangent. We provide updates in The Loop and via our Facebook and Instagram pages of St James Barn Biddenham. Feel free to follow us and keep up to date about what is happening at the Barn.
For more details on when everything is happening, please refer to the timetable at the back of The Loop. If you would like to hire the Barn for any type of event or find out more about the facilities it offers, please get in contact.
stjamesbarnbiddenham@gmail.com