The Earnscleugh Hall is coming up 100 years in November 2026, and the planning is already underway for its Centenary.

Officially opened in October 1926, the hall is still used regularly - including last weekend for its biannual fundraising fair.

Earnscleugh Community Society chair Angela McNaughton said the centenary will be held on the weekend of November 14th and 15th, and the timing was perfect as the hall restoration should be

completed by then.

She said descendants of many early Earnscleugh families continue to reside in the wider Central Otago area and they hope that they will join in the celebrations at the hall Centenary.

“We are aware that there will be people of all ages who may be interested in attending one or more of a variety of events over the weekend, so there will be multiple events to try and cover different age

groups interests.”

Earnscleugh fair stallholders Camille Alabaster and Jenny Knowles selling their wares at the weekend. Photo:The Central App

The organising committee has been meeting with a number of older residents to explore the history of the area, which began with gold mining, then moved onto farming, horticulture and more recently

floriculture.

“A number of differing ideas are being considered at present… and the committee is looking at the Earnscleugh Hall’s role in the community as a centre for social connection in this area over the last

100 years.”

Many people in the wider area of Alexandra and Clyde remember attending regular dances through the war years and up until the 1980s, and the hall was used by sports clubs such as badminton,

indoor bowls, scouts and tennis.

The former church located next to the hall was deconsecrated around 1990, and has been owned by the same family since then for use as a holiday home.

She said beside the church is the former Earnscleugh Primary School which also operated for about 30 years from the early 1900s.

 The very well-known local gardening identity Gladys McArthur B.E.M. was born in Conroys Gully in 1905, attended the Earnscleugh Primary School, and returned to teach at the school in the 1920s

after studying to become a teacher.