During the 1920’s, the people of Barry decided that they wanted to build a memorial for all the Barry people who had lost their lives fighting for our freedom during the First World War. People thought that it would be fitting to build a hall and a Cenotaph. The people of Barry were behind this idea wholeheartedly and each person donated a penny. The descendants of David Davies also generously donated, and the money raised was enough to build the hall and Cenotaph. The cost was £26,000 which was a huge amount of money in those days.
The hall and the Cenotaph were opened in 1932, and the theatre and hall were completed and opened in November 1933.
In 2007, it was the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Memorial Hall. The Cenotaph and the Hall of Memory both needed restoration work. It was estimated that £60,000 worth of work was needed to restore them and bring them up to the legal standards.
The Barry Remembers Appeal was launched which raised £92,000 in time for the work to be completed by the anniversary date of November 11th 2007. This money also enabled the reproduction of the Merchant Navy Associations Role of Honour. This is displayed within the Hall of Memory, and contains the names of more than six hundred merchant seamen from Barry who have died at war.
The Cenotaph and the Hall of Memory are beautiful memorials that are fitting for all one thousand eight hundred and eighteen people from Barry who gave their lives for our freedom.