There is a record of an almshouse on this site in 1638. The building served as the village workhouse until the Grenoside Union Workhouse was built in 1852. It was then used as a school until the Board School opened in 1894. The hall became the Parish Council offices and finally the premises of the British Legion until demolition in the late 1960s.

The term Feoffes was used to describe the holders of a grant of land which could be used for charitable purposes. In the case of Ecclesfield the rent income from land and property was used for the relief of the poor.