Local volunteers have spent a weekend clearing large amounts of overgrown vegetation at the derelict Banqueting Hall in Jesmond Dene, with the aim of restoring it as a centre of learning and discovery.

The Grade II listed building – which means it is of special architectural or historic interest and legally protected from demolition or alteration without consent – was named last year by The Victorian Society as one of the UK’s top ten endangered buildings in need of serious care and restoration.

Built in the early 1860s and gifted to Newcastle by Sir William Armstrong in 1883, the Hall was designated a “controlled ruin” in 1977 by Newcastle City Council, preserved in its partially decayed state, and stabilised so it does not collapse further.

The Hall’s deed stipulates that it was given to the city by Lord Armstrong in 1883 on condition it be used “for lectures, recitals, concerts, banquets and meetings … connected with arts, literature, science or education.” The weekend working party last month was organised by The Armstrong Project CIO, which is hoping the building can be restored to function again in accordance with Lord Armstrong’s wishes. Pledged grants from the Architectural Heritage Fund and Barbour Foundation will be used to help.

“There’s a lot of good will here,” said Peter Jamieson, an Armstrong Project CIO trustee, who added that the working party was a “demonstration to the public” and “a way of encouraging the local community to be involved. The Hall is hugely important for the community because there are all sorts of activities which could be supported here, to do with the local community, the wider community and the whole of Newcastle.”

Artist-led group Armstrong Studio Trust (AST) has been using the Hall for the last 40 years as a hub and venue for fine and visual arts, whilst also caring for the building through maintenance and repairs. AST lead Jennie Speirs Grant told JesmondLocal: “It’s very interesting to find out how key a building it is to so many other people and that they want to volunteer their time and actually help it move forward.

“The uses of it are things still as current now as they were in Armstrong’s own time,” said Spiers Grant, who said she hoped the community could access the Hall in a number of ways in the future.