Lady Waterford Hall

Lady Waterford Hall is the former village school of the estate village of Ford, Northumberland. It is now used as the village hall and is a Grade II* listed building. The hall was built as a school in 1860 by Louisa Beresford, Marchioness of Waterford, who inherited the village after the death of her husband. It is constructed in a Tudor style of stone with a slate roof. The 9-bay roof is supported by scissor braces. The interior walls are decorated throughout with murals on biblical themes painted by Lady Louisa herself, a gifted amateur artist, using the schoolchildren and local villagers as models. They were painted over a 20-year period on paper and affixed to the walls. At the east end is a large "Jesus in the midst of the doctors" and at the west end a large "Suffer little children to come unto me". It was used as a school until 1957 and at its peak housed 134 children. Now used as a village hall, it is available for hire, but otherwise open to view from 10.30 a.m.