The Story of the Amphitheatre
How the Amphitheatre came into being …
Our Story
The ambitious amphitheatre is the final phase of a 20 year long, community fuelled dream for this spectacular site, overseen by The Lenches Sports and Recreation Club (LSRC).
The LSRC is a charity organisation, which runs sports facilities at its ground in Church Lench. There are two tennis courts and a multi-use games area on one level and a sports field with a modern pavilion on the lower level. They host two cricket and football teams, together with thriving tennis, netball and boules clubs. It’s a wonderful site offering spectacular views across the Severn Valley to the Malvern, Clent and Abberley Hills to the West.
The Vision
The Lenches Sports Club has always wanted to make the most of this glorious location, a gentle slope of thirty metres, set into a curve, running down to the level surface of the wide-open sports field. The slope felt a little like an Amphitheatre.
If terracing could be put in, looking out across to the Malvern Hills, it would make a great space for an Open-Air Theatre. It’s a beautiful setting. In the summer months plays could be staged, and live music concerts performed if we got the acoustics right. There would be nothing like it in the Midlands! What a great way to spend a summer evening with friends and family, relaxing with food and a drink, whilst you watch the entertainment.
Wychavon District Council recognised the exciting opportunity to create a unique space and asked the LSRC to apply for a Community Legacy Grant. The local community was consulted and they were keen to support the idea of an outdoor theatre. It was clear there was great enthusiasm for the plan. The council applied to Wychavon District Council Community Legacy Grant Fund, designed to assist parish councils to invest in capital projects which provide a long-term legacy for the community. Wychavon awarded a grant of £95,000 to develop the amphitheatre, alongside a related building, to provide a green room and storage facilities.
Making The Vision A Reality
The LSRC put together a team to take the project forward. There was no shortage of enthusiasm. Skilled professionals, who wanted to be involved, offered their services for free. Architects, a quantity surveyor, structural engineers, a planning consultant and a builder all joined the team to plan and deliver the unique project.
The £95,000 grant would allow only a basic design, concrete terracing and a steel frame building with metal cladding. That wouldn’t do justice to our beautiful rural environment. The free professional services were hugely helpful but what has really transformed the project was a very generous donation of 45,000 bricks by Jewson, who also agreed to supply additional materials at cost.
But it wasn’t just big business that helped. One local business donated 100 pallets to store the bricks on. Another provided a forklift to move them. They all wanted to be associated with this outstanding and unique project.
We set our sights high. An acoustic expert from the US gave advice to the project and a final design was settled on.
Thanks to relentless work by tireless villagers, successful community fundraising efforts, alongside the generous financial help from the Wychavon Community Legacy Grant and donations from a wide range of local businesses, The Lenches Amphitheatre has finally come to fruition.