History of Tullynessle Hall

Tullynessle & Forbes Community Hall.

The land that the Hall stands on was donated to the people of Tullynessle and Forbes by a local farmer John Gordon in 1950 for the purpose of building a community Hall. Construction work began in 1955 with four people working four nights a week mixing cement and creating concrete blocks. Another sixteen to twenty people worked on alternate nights digging out foundations. This work saved around £400 pounds in the cost of building the Hall. The foundation stone was laid by Lady McLean, wife of Sir Alan McLean of Littlewood, who was unable to attend due to illness, on 19th July 1956. In 1958 ten volunteers using four tractors and a lorry leveled the ground around the Hall to create a car park - saving a further £150. The Community owned Hall cost between £6,000 and £7,000 to build and by June 1962 following many fundraising efforts and grants was completely paid for.

The Hall was extended in 1992/1993 following further fund raising efforts by the local community. The most recent renovation and extension, started in January 2008, was made possible following a huge fundraising effort by the Tullynessle and Forbes Hall and Community Association which secured nearly £500,000 of funding.

The Hall serves primarily the people of the Parish of Tullynessle and Forbes and also a much wider community in the surrounding area. The Parish is an entirely rural area lying in North East Scotland within the upper valley of the Don in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire. The parish is part of the wider area known as The Howe of Alford. The 2001 census recorded the population of the Parish as 591.