Barnacle is a small hamlet of some 96 houses and 220 residents, nestling in the Warwickshire countryside. It is situated a few miles north of Coventry within easy reach of Junction 2 of the M6 and the M69 motorways.
The village has a long history, having been mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Bernhangre’ meaning “a barn on the hill”. The name evolved through ‘Bernhangel’ to ‘Barnangle’ and ‘Barnacle’, which first appeared in documents in 1547.
Barnacle Hall was owned by the ‘Prior and Convent of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem’ but went into private ownership wit the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII. One of the main landowners in the village at the time of the Civil War, William Hickman of Barnacle Park, was staunchly Royalist. He was fined and his estates sequestrated by Cromwell’s Parliament for his “Delinquency, being in arms against the Parliament”. He was pardoned with the return of the monarchy.
In the Nineteenth Century the residents were mainly employed in farming, mining and hand-loom weaving.
After the First World War, instead of building a war memorial to commemorate those who had fought and died in the conflict, the village acquired a wooden hut from the army. A local landowner gave some land and the ‘Barnacle Memorial Hall’ was erected.
The wooden hut was much loved, but by the 1960’s was ‘worn-out’. The villagers purchased a replacement concrete hall from Kent and it was transported to Barnacle and re-built over a period of years. It was re-opened with a service of dedication and remembrance on 12th November 1972.
In 2013 a new extension was built onto the hall, giving it a snug room and also a much improved, larger kitchen.
Barnacle Village Hall is run by a Management Committee elected annually and is a registered charity. It has been extensively refurbished to provide a first class venue for village events, community organisations, parties, weddings, skittles and general hire.