A turf-cutting ceremony for a new £588,000 community hub was attended by the oldest man in a north Norfolk village.
The new purpose-built community centre, just off the main coast road in Trimingham, will replace the current hall, the pilgrim centre, and will ensure the future of many local groups.
Former chairman of the parish council, Alec Reynolds, 91 later this month, was the guest of honour at the event on Monday, August 7.
He said: 'My sister Daphne is 14 months older than me, but she was not born in the village, so I'm the oldest person to have been born in the village.
'I'm a great believer in the new hall, which will really help.'
Village hall management committee chairman Terry Brown said it was the culmination of five years' work.
He said: 'It's been a horse and a sheep field, but it's going to be our field. This is now reality. On March 19 next year there will be a handover and we will have a new hall.'
The pilgrim centre is located near the edge of a crumbling cliff in a 1930s building, and the village is under threat from erosion, but Mr Brown said it was not about to fall into the sea.
He added: 'Trimingham is not going to slide off the cliff. It will grow as a village.'
Sheringham-based SMG Architects Ltd designed the new building which will be built by Norwich-based Omnis Construction Ltd.
Stuart Smith, from the architect's firm, said: 'This will be a traditional build with clay pantiles, brick and flint walls and timber cladding. It will be a single-storey village hall.'
The new environmentally-friendly building has been paid for thanks mainly to about £425,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. Other contributions have come from North Norfolk District Council's Pathfinder grant, the Geoffrey Watling Foundation and Sheringham Shoal (Community Fund).
The project was also boosted by £30,000 raised through events in the village, ranging from car boot sales and keep fit sessions, to quizzes and whist drives.i
The new hub will serve the entire parish with a wide range of activities and services.
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