Played in Charting the heritage of a city at play

Simon Inglis with additional research by Jackie Spreckley

Played in London Design by Doug Cheeseman Printed by Butler Tanner & Dennis © English Heritage 2014 Frome, Somerset BA11 1NF Production by Jackie Spreckley English Heritage Maps by Mark Fenton ISBN: 978 1 84802 057 3 is the government’s statutory For image credits see page 348 Product code: 51537 advisor on all aspects of the historic environment Malavan Media is a creative consultancy responsible Fire Fly Avenue for the Played in Britain series Swindon SN2 2EH www.playedinbritain.co.uk www.english-heritage.org.uk Introduction

Introduction

f, in the end, it really does boil An abundance too: over 3,200 outside the capital), still exceeded Idown to bread and circuses, clubs spread across 50 sports, 10 million, a new record for the Juvenal’s panem et circenses, there is including 14 professional football Olympic movement. not a city on the planet to match clubs (more than any city apart So no matter how the figures are what London has on offer. from Buenos Aires), and eleven presented, the conclusion remains In earlier urban studies within clubs playing at a senior national the same; that London earns a lot the Played in Britain series we saw level in both codes of rugby. of its bread from circuses of one how, for example in Birmingham, Plus there are the two county sort or another. provision for sports and recreation cricket clubs based in the capital, Much of this income, inevitably, was powered by metal-bashing Middlesex and Surrey, both derives from overseas. For it is and manufacturing, and how in playing at grounds that rank also the case that while many of Liverpool, shipping and trade were among the 22 venues in London the 16 million foreign tourists a the great drivers. holding 10,000 spectators or year who visit London (as of 2013) So what drives London? more (the largest being Wembley are drawn by its historic treasures, Since the Royal Society of Arts The short, and unoriginal Stadium, with 90,000 seats). its museums and art galleries, its erected London’s first plaque in answer is finance, and culture. Seat for seat, no other city can theatres and shops, many come 1867 (to Lord Byron, in Holles And what is an important match this level of provision, not here because of sport. Street, long since lost), nearly 900 element of culture? even football crazy Rio or sports Although separate figures others have followed. Charles Physical culture. Sport and mad Melbourne. Indeed if we add for London do not exist, it has Burgess Fry, arguably England’s recreation. Participating in it, up the capacities of all the venues been reported that in 2008, three most gifted all-round sportsman obviously. Watching it, clearly. that currently cater for sport in the million foreign tourists played ever – a first class cricketer, But in London’s case, capital, the aggregate totals an or watched sport in Britain, 1.2 footballer and athlete, a brilliant organising it too, governing it, astonishing 780,000. million of whom attended football journalist but also an often deeply staging it, marketing it, selling it, This compares with 123,000 matches. Horse racing and golf troubled individual – has two. The broadcasting it, reporting on it. seats at London’s 100 cinemas, were the next most popular. above plaque, placed in 2005, can Sport is deeply ingrained within and 43,000 seats in its 52 theatres When Martial visited the be seen at 114 St James’s Road the everyday life of the capital, (not including the fringe). Colosseum in 80AD he looked in Croydon, while his final place trumpeting its might on the back Of course cinemas and theatres around him and asked ‘if there was of residence, in Lyndale Avenue pages, beavering away at the grass are open six or seven days a week, any race so remote, so barbarous’ NW2, bears an earlier plaque roots, flexing its muscles in the so comparisons with sports venues that it was not represented in the put up by Hendon Corporation. gym and working up a sweat in are not necessarily valid. crowd? There was a Thracian, he All told currently 48 sportsmen the local park. Sport feeds into But as a broad illustration, noted, a Sarmatian, an Arab, a and women have plaques in London’s great obsessions – style, 14 million tickets were sold at Sygambrian and an Ethiopian. And their honour dotted around the celebrity, news, architecture, the London’s theatres in 2013. This one man from a land ‘whose shore capital, erected by a variety of property market and, of course, was roughly twice the number sold the wave of farthest Tethys beats’, agencies, most notably English big business. Always business (not over the same period for sporting by which it is thought Martial Heritage since 1986. And yet forgetting its frothy concomitant, events, 3.6 million of which were meant Britannia. when the London County Council corporate hospitality). for Premier League matches at the And so it is today in the unveiled its first plaque – to Lord So when, in the summer of capital’s six leading football clubs. colosseums of London, where the Macaulay, in Campden Hill W8 2012, London became the first city But if we take 2012, a year of babel of voices in the stands is (also long lost), in 1903 – Lord in the world to have staged three so many happenings in London, nowadays an echo of those spoken Rosebery declared that he hoped modern Olympics, this was no combined ticket sales for the down on the pitch, or on the track, such plaques would force on the accident. Olympics and Paralympics alone or on the court. minds of young people that there For when it comes to sport, (bearing in mind that around Not all these foreign circus- existed ‘other avenues of fame’ London has form. a tenth of sales were for events goers are passive observers. than ‘the Olympian games’.

From the collection of Newham Heritage & Archives, this 1860s poster advertises a venue best known in east London as ‘the Dog’. Laid out in c.1840 by William Vause, licensee of the Spotted Dog, and since 1888 home to amateurs Clapton FC, it is the fourth oldest enclosed ground in the capital. The adjoining Grade II listed pub, alas, is boarded up and on the Heritage at Risk Register.

4 Played in London Played in London 5 Introduction

SPORTSCAPES

very Londoner has his or her work of 1989, Sports Geography, the E own mental map of the capital, first book of its kind in Britain London’s oldest sportscapes fashioned from years of getting to address the study of sport and This is a selected list of historic sportscapes still in use for sport, excluding around, accumulated emotional place. Bale defined a sportscape as parks originating in the public sector, by date of earliest reference to baggage always in tow. ‘a mono-functional site given over organised sport (excluding hunting and jousting) * denotes enclosed ground On this mental map are traced only to sport’. familiar routes and cherished Other academics have since 1373 Blackheath wrestling, golf, cricket, rugby, hockey landmarks, interspersed with picked up on Bale’s lead, each 1659 Tothill Fields golf, bowls, stoolball, later Vincent Square* (1810-) buildings and places that, for adding their own interpretation. 1666 Richmond Green cricket, rugby better or worse, are loaded with To an extent, Played in Britain is a 1707 Duppas Hill, Croydon cricket, football personal meaning. by-product of this discourse. 1720 HAC Artillery Garden* cricket, rugby, football, archery This section of the book seeks As is the conclusion that if 1723 Moulsey Hurst/later Hurst Park cricket, boxing, horse racing to show that for individuals with considered in isolation, individual 1730 Mitcham Green cricket (but claim also for 1685) an interest in physical culture, the sportscapes, be they stadiums, 1735 Woodford Green cricket ‘sportscapes’ of the capital form a athletics tracks, bowling greens 1737 Kew Green cricket map layer of their own, both in the or whatever, can tell us only c. 1775 Sun Inn, Barnes bowling green (but claim also for 1725)* mind and in a very practical sense. so much. The same is true if 1814 Lord’s* cricket, athletics, real tennis In other words, that to be placing sportscapes within the 1822 Chislehurst Common cricket engaged with sport is in itself to be context only of one sport (which, 1833 Twickenham Green cricket engaged with the city. understandably in view of most 1844 Spotted Dog ground* cricket, football Mostly when we go to the fans’ passions, is typically how 1845 * cricket, football theatre or cinema, to a museum or their stories are told). 1848 Outdoor Gymnasium, Primrose Hill gallery, we sample prepared works For a deeper understanding, 1857 Crystal Palace Park* cricket, athletics, football, cycling, rugby that could be staged, and probably one that attempts to locate a 1858 Gander Lane, Sutton* cricket will be staged in any equivalent sportscape within the wider urban 1863 Bushy Park Teddington & Hampton Wick Royal CCs cricket space, in any town or city. A and historical context, experience Beddington Park cricket sporting encounter, on the other has shown that taking a step back 1865 * cricket, rugby, archery, hockey, bowls hand, is a one-off happening that and looking at a larger area, or at Wimbledon Common: golf in most instances is place specific. clusters of sportscapes, offers a 1866 Foxgrove Road, * cricket, tennis, hockey Travelling across London more useful set of insights. 1869 Hurlingham Club pigeon shooting, polo, croquet, cricket, tennis to attend such a one-off event, With this in mind, Chapters 3-8 1870 Worple Road* tennis (former AELTC), now school sports ground experiencing the sportscape at first map selected parts of the capital, 1875 Alexandra Park cycling, horse racing, cricket, football, swimming hand, and possibly also interacting to show both how sportscapes 1876 Rectory Field, Blackheath* cricket, rugby, tennis with people from other parts of shape the city, and how for those 1877 Stamford Bridge* athletics, football, greyhound racing, speedway London, invests the occasion whose mental maps are informed Lymington Road* Hampstead CC cricket, hockey, tennis with an immediacy rare in other by sport, London is a web of 1885 Burbage Road, Dulwich* cricket, croquet, tennis, football areas of cultural life. Be it Surrey territories and boundaries of which 1886 Richmond Athletic Ground* athletics, cricket, rugby v. Middlesex, Arsenal v. Chelsea or others might be quite oblivious. Epping Forest golf Blackheath v. Richmond, knowing Had space permitted there 1888 Paddington Recreation Ground athletics, cycling, cricket, bowls that such events have been staged might easily have been double 1891 North London Bowling Club, Fitzroy Park* bowling green for a century or more adds further the number of areas and themes Mitcham Common golf to the experience. covered. But as the section’s Herne Hill* cycling, athletics, rugby ‘Sportscape’ is a relatively opening chapter sets out, on the 1893 Stanmore Golf Club recent coinage, introduced by actual map of London, space is the 1894 Wembley Park* cricket, athletics, golf, football Professor John Bale in his seminal most precious commodity of all.

London’s oldest enclosed sports ground is the Artillery Garden, first occupied by the Honourable Artillery Company in 1641. This, together with the adjoining Finsbury Square (centre right), laid out in the 18th century and with a public bowling green added in the 1960s, and nearby Finsbury Circus, is a remnant of Finsbury Fields and Moorfields, London’s earliest sportscapes.

26 Played in London Played in London 27 Crystal Palace Park

Chapter Four After the day’s athletics a dinner in the Palace itself was followed by a speech on Muscular Christianity by a founder of the NOA, William Crystal Palace Park Penny Brookes, later to be a seminal influence on the founder of the IOC, Pierre de Coubertin. Crystal Palace was chosen 5 partly because it was the place ondon has always been adept at architectural note, together with a Crystal Palace was no mere to be in 1860s London, but also L putting on a show, a pageant, swimming pool and/or an indoor amusement park. Rather, it was because one of the organisations 4 an exhibition or a sporting arena of outstanding design. designed to become a ‘Home belonging to the NOA, the spectacular. But the capital has Each has staged a range of of Science, Art, Literature and German Gymnastic Society (based 3 a mixed record when it comes to sports at national and international Music’, for the education and at King’s Cross), had held their sorting out the aftermath. level, and each, in 1866, 1948 and delight of ‘all classes of people’. annual sports there since 1862. 2 This is the first of three chapters 2012 respectively, has hosted a In the park today the clearest Another sport associated with focusing on areas of London modern version of the Olympics. manifestation of this mission to the park’s early years is football. where historic happenings have An Olympics, at Crystal Palace? ‘educate and delight’ are the 30 or The first Crystal Palace FC (no transformed the locality, each with Before explaining this, a so lifesize models of dinosaurs, relation to the current club) is different outcomes. reminder that the Crystal Palace created in the 1850s by Benjamin thought to have been formed as an Starting with Crystal Palace Park was originally designed by Sir Waterhouse Hawkins, now adjunct of the cricket club, in 1861, – a 200 acre expanse straddling Joseph Paxton for the 1851 Great collectively listed Grade I. and was a founder member of the 1 Sydenham, Penge and Norwood, a Exhibition in Hyde Park, and that Further evidence of the Football Association in 1863. park in which there is no longer a in common with the Shard and directors’ aspirations was the type One of its number, James palace and where the football club Gherkin, its title was actually a of sporting provision on offer, Turner, a wine merchant from known as Crystal Palace has not nickname. In July 1850, before there being a ground for archery Croydon, served as FA treasurer played since 1915 – we go north to building work had begun, Punch (a sport confined to the upper for four years. Another, Charles 6 Wembley Park where, as the result magazine described the design and middle classes), outdoor and Chenery, who also played cricket of the British Empire Exhibition as a ‘castle of glass’. This was indoor gymnasiums, and a cricket for Surrey, played in England’s Five months after the Crystal of 1923-4 there is no longer a park amended a month later to ‘glass ground, opened in 1857, where a first three internationals, before Palace burnt to the ground in (unless we count the business and palace’ before, in the edition of Crystal Palace CC soon formed. the club finally disbanded in 1876. 1936 – ‘Let’s build another retail parks), and from there move November 2 1850, the playwright It was on the cricket ground that Given that the Palace directors one!’ piped up John Betjeman as out east to the Lea Valley, which Douglas Jerrold came up with on August 1 1866 the inaugural took pride in offering a showcase avoid embarrassment during the London daily crowed in 1900, ‘Not Drawn up by auctioneers Knight, the smoke dispersed – 30,000 now has in its midst the Queen ‘Crystal Palace’ (although he may athletic meeting of the National for innovation, two other modern Queen’s Golden Jubilee. only is the arena unsurpassably Frank & Rutley in advance of the people gathered in the adjoining Elizabeth Olympic Park. well have borrowed the term from Olympian Association was staged, recreations found a ready home Added to this, the Palace was adapted for such an encounter, proposed sale of the Palace and park to witness London’s newest There might have been a chapter Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound, in front of a 10,000 crowd. there. In 1866 a roller skating not allowed to open on Sundays, but a visit to London, even in the park in 1911, this plan shows that sporting attraction (above). But in this sequence featuring White published 30 years earlier). As detailed in Martin Polley’s rink was set up, offering the latest the only full day that most working expiring days of the 19th century, much of Paxton’s layout remained popular though motor racing was City, venue for the Franco-British The name was then formalised The British Olympics (see Links), the American skates patented by James people had free. has unmistakable attraction for intact, apart from the building of to become, on the only bespoke Exhibition and Olympic Games of when the Palace was rebuilt and National Olympian Association Plimpton. In May 1869, again Hence in the 1890s the directors the average provincial.’ houses on the perimeter. Also, on circuit ever to have operated 1908, but the site’s heritage assets extended on Sydenham Hill in was the world’s first national courtesy of the German Gymnastic felt they had no choice but to offer And so it proved. From a gate either side of the Grand Centre in the capital and with crowds are now so few and tokenistic that 1852-54 by a group of investors led Olympic body of the modern Society, the Palace grounds hosted what one correspondent to The of 42,560 at the Palace’s first Final Walk, both fountain basins were sometimes topping 60,000, a few references to them have been left by Paxton and incorporated as the era, formed 29 years before the Britain’s first recorded cycle race, Times in 1911 decried as ‘football in April 1895 the numbers grew infilled in 1894–95, to form the days of racing a year was never to later chapters on athletics and Crystal Palace Company. International Olympic Committee. albeit it was called at the time a matches and other attractions for steadily to top 110,000 in 1901, main, or south sports ground (1), enough to compensate for all greyhound racing. The new Palace and its grounds Usually when the NOA Games ‘Velocipede Derby’ (see page 314). vulgar mobs’ (by which he meant when Tottenham became the first where Cup Finals were staged, the other uncertainties affecting Although entirely different in were an instant success, drawing of 1866 are referenced it is in The park also proved ideal for switchback railways, fairground professional club from London to and the north ground (2), used Crystal Palace Park after the character, Crystal Palace Park, on average two million visitors relation to the winner of the 440 the staging of one of the earliest rides and the like). win the treasured trophy. for football, cycling and athletics. fire. From a world renowned, Wembley Park and the Lea Valley annually over its first three yard hurdles, an 18 year old from set of time trials for motor cars in One key factor in the To the north of the Cup Final Other sporting facilities included groundbreaking exhibition centre have the following in common. decades, including regular visits Bristol who had popped over from Britain, in 1896 (during which a introduction of football had been ground a second arena, opened the cricket ground (3), bowling and manicured landscape to a Each has been subject to a from Queen Victoria, who opened the Oval, having just notched up 44 year old woman from Croydon the decision by Surrey CCC in 1892 in 1896, boasted a much admired greens (4), a pavilion for skaters bruised but beloved Grade II* series of masterplans in which the it in 1854, and foreign royalty. 224 not out for England. became the first pedestrian to be to stop hiring out the Oval for the cycle track, on which the World on the Intermediate Lake (5), listed public park, the big question promise of sporting legacy has His name? WG Grace, the killed in a motor accident). In 1903 FA Cup Final, which by then was Cycling Championships took place and stabling for polo ponies (6). in SE19 today remains the same ranked highly, but the delivery of bearded wonder who, over 30 years the Palace hosted the nation’s first on its way to becoming England’s in 1904 (see page 319). Apparently the damage caused to as it was in 1936. ‘What is to which has proved problematic. later would return to the Palace in Motor Show too. biggest sporting draw after the Less successful was the attempt the turf by polo had driven away become of Crystal Palace Park?’ Each currently has a stadium of a rather different capacity. But in truth, by that stage the Derby at Epsom. After staging to attract first class cricket. the archers a few years earlier. directors were open to almost any the 1893 Final unsatisfactorily in As recorded by Brian Pearce (see On a secluded path running west activity. For although the Palace Manchester and the 1894 Final in Links), apart from local club cricket from the Fisherman’s Gate on the was now nearly half a century old, Liverpool, the FA was determined the ground had hosted occasional north side of Crystal Palace Park, its finances had never recovered to find a London venue, and one, matches featuring Kent and the this lone turnstile is thought to from start up costs of £1.35 moreover, that, in the cause of fair Australians. But in 1898, no doubt have provided entry to the park million, or from a ruinous fire in play, would be neutral. emboldened by the takings from from the garden of one of the villas the north transept in 1866. As will be noted, the turf bowl football and cycling, the company on Crystal Palace Park Road. The Nor had the sale of plots for created to meet this need was took the decision to form a new houses, several of which survive housing around the perimeters hardly ideal. But with admission to club, the London County Cricket but with altered boundaries, were provided more than a temporary matches also allowing access to the Club, and hire WG Grace as its built on parkland sold by the reprise, so that in 1887 the Palace and park, it was certainly an secretary-manager on £600 a year. Crystal Palace Company in the company needed further bailing attractive proposition. For sure this was a coup, even if 1870s, in order to ease its debts. out by a government keen to As The Sportsman, a pro-FA WG was past his best. But it

64 Played in London Played in London 65 IntroductionLea Valley

Notes: where club is identified, date 15. site of Hackney Wick / White 55 56 refers to when it first occupied the Lion RG (1857-75) site, not the date of its foundation. 16. site of Eton Manor Boys Club 54 Cemetery clubhouse Riseholme St Key: AC: Athletics Club; BC: Bowls (1913-67) now A12 slipway Club, FC: Football Club, GC: Golf 17. Victoria Park running track StJames’s 48 Park 47 Club, LC: Leisure Centre, PF: (c.1926-) WALTHAM Playing Fields, Rec: Recreation 18. Victoria Park Boating Lakes 50 49 46 53 52 FOREST Ground, RG: Running Grounds, SC: (for swimming 1846-1934) Walthamstow Sports Centre, SG: Sports Ground, extant as lakes Marshes Allotments Springfield TC: Tennis Club 19. site of Royal Olympian Gardens Park 51 * denotes run by LVRPA RG Old Three Colts, Old Ford 40 Rd (1859-60) Leyton 45 This map shows the sports- Marshes 2012 Olympic/Paralympic venues: 20. site of Victoria Gardens RG 37 related sites within the southern J A. Olympic Stadium (2016-) Victoria Tavern, Grove Rd 38 section of the Lea Valley. 39 41 B. training track relocated from (1850-51) South of the Olympic Stadium 36 adjacent site of 2012 warm-up 21. site of East London RG (A) relatively little organised sport 42 C. London Aquatics Centre (2014-) Coborn Rd (1870s) While most of the sports facilities is recorded, this area having been 35 D. site of Waterpolo Arena 22. site of Clay Hall RG Old Ford within the London part of the Lea Allotments 44 largely dominated by industry. E. Copper Box (2013-) Rd (1857-61) Valley belong to local authorities, North of the stadium, the River 32 43 F. site of Basketball Arena 23. site of Great Eastern Railway those established by the LVRPA 34 Hackney Cemetery Lea and Lee Navigation flow either G. site of Hockey Arena SG, Thornton Field Warton Rd have been designed to meet Marshes side of three marshes; Hackney 33 H. Velodrome and Velo Park* (1921-c.1939) cross-borough needs. There are, in (31), Leyton and Walthamstow. East (2013-) site of Eastway Cycle 24. Drapers Field PF (1894-) close proximity on either side of Lea Clapton 31 Marsh I Since the mid 19th century Hackney Park Circuit (1975-2006) 25. site of Temple Mills greyhound Bridge Road, the Lee Valley Riding Downs rowing has been concentrated 24 I. site of Eton Manor SG (1923- / flapper track Clays Lane Centre (above), Lee Valley Ice in this stretch of the Lee Kingsmead 25 67)/Paralympics tennis arena/ (c.1932-55) Centre (below left and below) and Estate Navigation (between nos. 27 29 Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis 26. site of Hackney Wick the WaterWorks Golf Centre (left), G H and 51), and up to Ferry Lane. 30 F Centre* (2014-) Greyhound Stadium (1932-97) which doubles as a Nature Reserve As industry colonised the valley, 28 J. site of basketball training centre 27. Eton Mission Rowing Club Centre and acts as a gathering point 26 an intense, localised sporting Wallis Rd (1934-) for running clubs. culture emerged. Pedestrianism was 15 E Other existing and former venues: 28. site of Arena Field Rec One of the LVRPA’s toughest 27 particularly strong, as manifested 14 1. Workhouse LC Poplar High St (1894) / 2012 Media Centre balancing acts is to meet its 16 Stratford by various running grounds, most 11 City (1998-) 29. site of Wick Field SG (c.1960- remit for sport and recreation attached to public houses, including D 2. Poplar Baths East India Dock 1990) now Wick Woodland whilst seeking to preserve the London 13 C Bow (4) and Hackney Wick (15). Fields Rd (1934-88) future pending 30. Mabley Green Rec (1922-) character of the Valley’s natural From the 1920s this track- 3. Langdon Park LC (2006-) 31. Hackney Marshes (1894-) assets; in this area primarily 17 A based betting culture switched HACKNEY 18 4. site of Bow RG (1859-63), and pavilion (2010-) Walthamstow Marsh, a site of 23 to greyhounds, at Clapton (33) Victoria Prince of Wales Olympia & RG 32. site of Whittles Athletic Gd / Special Scientific Interest, and 12 Hackney Wick (26), Temple Park B / Old Bow RG (1863-c.1908) / Clapton Orient (1896-1900) Leyton Marsh, where a prolonged Mills (25) and Walthamstow 10 19 NEWHAM Poplar Open Air Baths Violet 33. site of Millfields Road, Clapton campaign took place against the

(shown on map on page 88). Haggerston 22 Rd (1924-36) Orient (1900-30) / Clapton siting of an Olympic basketball Amateur athletics maintained Park 5. site of Three Mills SC / cycle Greyhound Stadium (1928-74) training facility (J) in 2012. a presence, in the form of the 9 speedway track Bisson Road now Orient Way (above right) 20 Victoria Park Harriers (14 and 5 (1970-c.1985) 34. South Mill Fields inc above), Thornton Field (23) 21 6. King George’s Field (1952-) / Crusaders / Saracens RFC Meath Three Mills and at Mile End Stadium (6). Gdns East London Stadium (1967), (1877-85) / Clapton CC/ Upper Before the Olympic Stadium, renamed Mile End Stadium Clapton RFC (1892–1901) Weavers the area’s most prominent first Field (1990-) / Mile End Park LC 35. North Mill Fields inc Clapton 8 class venues were those of Leyton Mile Cemetery (2006-) FC (1880-88) End Park County Cricket Club (45) and Park 7. Whitechapel SC Durward St 36. Lee Valley Ice Centre* (1984-) Leyton Orient FC (44), who until 4 (1997-) 37. Lee Valley Riding Centre* 1937 played on the Middlesex side 7 6 8. Cheshire Street Wash-house (1973-) of the valley, as Clapton Orient. (1899-1974) / Repton Boxing 38. site of Lea Bridge Speedway Bow Club (1975-) Stadium (1928-38) / Clapton TOWER Creek 9. York Hall LC Old Ford Rd (1929-) Orient (1930-37) 44. Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane 51. Leaside Canoe Club Spring former ground/track/pool HAMLETS 3 10. Haggerston Baths Whiston Rd 39. WaterWorks Golf Centre* Road (1905-) L. Orient (1937) Lane (1963-) former building/stand (1904-2000) future pending (1972-) and nature reserve 45. Leyton County Cricket Ground 52. Verdon’s / Tyrell’s Boathouse, current open space/ 11. London Fields Lido 40. Hare and Hounds Ground Lea Crawley Rd (1885-) / West Spring Hill (c.1870s) / Lea sports ground 2 (1932-88, 2006-) Bridge Rd / Leyton FC (1901- Essex BC (1923-2010) Rowing Club (1980-) current building/stand 12. site of Victoria Park Lido 2012) future pending 46. Leyton Lagoon LC (1991-) 53. Springhill SG (1870s-) inc 1 Grove Rd (1936-89) 41. Seymour Road / Marsh Lane 47. site of Leyton Baths Leyton Upper Clapton RFC (1879-87) 0 1km 13. Victoria Park BC (1900-) playing fields / former Gas High Rd (1934-91), now Tesco and Great Universal Stores SG 0.5m 14. St Augustine’s Hall Victoria Board SG (1930s-) 48. Kelmscott LC (1984-) (post war) Park / Cadogan Terrace Victoria 42. Ive Farm SG (c.1920-) 49. Low Hall SG (c.1930s-) 54. Markfield Rec (1938-) Park Harriers & Tower Hamlets 43. Score Centre Oliver Rd (2006-) 50. site of Coppermill PF (c.1950- 55. Douglas Eyre PF (1896-) AC clubhouse (1962-) site of Leyton BC (1924-2005) c.1998) now nature reserve 56. Orford House BC (1921-) Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (2014)

82 Played in London Played in London 83 Introduction

SPORTS BUILDINGS

s Londoners may have noticed emanating from this book, with Aduring the run up to the 2012 one more pending and a handful London’s oldest extant purpose-built sports buildings/structures Olympics, the architecture of sport of others waiting to be assessed. listed by date of likely completion, unless otherwise stated is nowadays deemed by the media As the list on the right shows excludes buildings such as golf clubhouses built originally for other uses and to be worthy of its place in the there is a higher survival rate in buildings such as clubs and institutes which house facilities such as pools/gyms cultural mainstream. predominantly amateur sports. In *denotes still in use for sport/recreation † denotes listed building This is a recent phenomenon, professional sport, where crowd however, dating from the 1990s safety is paramount and amenity c. 1533 Whitehall Palace remains of tennis court, Cockpit Passage† when it became almost impossible levels crucial, historic buildings 1538 Hampton Court Palace tiltyard tower (now part of cafe)† for commentators to ignore the come under much greater scrutiny. 1543 Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, Chingford (now museum)† rush of grandstands and stadiums Equally it is acknowledged 1625 Hampton Court Palace walls of current real tennis court*† being built in the wake of the that in professional sport less 1803 Syon House pavilion/boathouse (now residential)† 1989 Hillsborough disaster. One emphasis has traditionally been 1851 Addiscombe Military Academy gymnasium, Croydon (now flats)† major turning point came in 1995 placed on architectural quality. 1860 High Elms, Orpington fives court† when the McAlpine Stadium in Yet even this longstanding trend 1865 Harrow School rackets court* Huddersfield became the first has been bucked in the last decade German Gymnasium, St Pancras (to be converted to restaurant)† sports building to win the Royal or so, as clubs and clients have c. 1869 Auriol & Kensington Rowing Club, Lower Mall boathouse* Institute of British Architects’ realised that functionality need not Verdon’s Boatyard, Spring Hill, Clapton boathouse* coveted Building of the Year award. exclude aesthetic considerations. 1870 Regents Park, Skaters’ Pavilion now tennis pavilion* Whereas in the past someone Indeed, now that the public is Worple Road All England Croquet Club pavilion (now Wimbledon with an interest in the subject had better informed, sports fans expect High School pavilion)* to trawl through specialist journals higher quality than ever. Thames Sailing Club, Portsmouth Road boathouse* for reports on the latest stand or In today’s hectic rush towards 1871 London Rowing Club, Putney Embankment boathouse* pavilion, swimming pool or sports modernity it becomes all too easy c.1870s Ranelagh Sailing Club, Putney Embankment boathouse* hall – the choice of buildings to dismiss historic buildings as Westminster School Boat Club, Putney Embankment boathouse* featured dictated often by the unsustainable or uneconomic, 1879 Thames Rowing Club, Putney Embankment boathouse* status of the client rather than the when often the opposite is true. 1880 Twickenham Rowing Club, Eel Pie Island boathouse* potential level of public interest – It has also to be noted that in 1886 Richmond Athletic Ground pavilion*† today we expect the media, and the their time, buildings such as the Rectory Field, Blackheath rugby and cricket club pavilion* clients themselves to keep us up to German Gymnasium and the 1887 Queen’s Club main pavilion, East and West real tennis courts* date with every new development. Lord’s pavilion were cutting edge. 1888 Queen’s Club East and West covered lawn tennis Courts* It is also now not uncommon Needless to add, their continued Paddington Recreation Ground pavilion* (with later additions) for sports fans and regular users presence adds lustre and variety to 1889 Vincent Square, Westminster School pavilion* of facilities to lobby for or against the London scene. ‘Much loved’ is 1890 Lord’s cricket ground pavilion*† proposals, and, in the context of a heartfelt term often heard in this Vesta Rowing Club, Putney Embankment boathouse* Played in Britain, to campaign to area of conservation. 1891 Herne Hill Velodrome grandstand (awaiting redevelopment) save grounds and structures of Alas the constraints of space c. 1896 Beckenham Tennis Club pavilion*† historic interest. have meant that not all building 1898 The Oval pavilion* (central core, with later additions) As of 2013 there were 70 listed types can be included in this book; British Rowing HQ, Lower Mall boathouse* buildings or structures in London indoor arenas and skating rinks, c. 1890s Chislehurst Common cricket club pavilion purpose-built for sport (41 of them for example. What follows is, 1899 Lord’s Cricket Ground base of Mound Stand* still in use for sport, and a further rather, an introduction to those 1900 Lord’s real tennis court* (but flagstones 1866) 29 either derelict or converted to building types most prevalent in 1905 Craven Cottage, Fulham FC pavilion and grandstand*† other uses). Five of the total have sport, and in London sport most 1906 Copped Hall rackets court (now cafe and visitor centre) † been listed as a result of research especially.

Dedicated to those ‘champions of liberty’ who laid down their lives in the Great War – as inscribed in Latin on the frieze – the pavilion of the City of London School on Marvels Lane, Grove Park, was opened in 1925. Like many a school pavilion it was designed without charge by two old boys, Ralph Knott and ES Collins, best known otherwise as architects of County Hall.

100 Played in London Played in London 101 GymnasiumsIntroduction & drill halls

Unless you were at school or in the armed forces, for the majority of 20th century Londoners, at least until the aerobics craze arrived from across the Atlantic in the 1970s, the ‘gymnasium’ was most strongly associated with boxing. Boxing gyms were traditionally set up in the back rooms or basements of pubs. However in recent years at least three London clubs have found homes in rather more prominent surrounds. Originally set up in 1974 by the Ghanaian Isola Akay, the All Star Boxing Gym is based at the former Queen’s Park Meeting Hall on Harrow Road. Designed by Rowland Plumbe for the Artisans, Labourers and General Dwellings Company, and opened in 1884, the Grade II listed hall was the social centre of the Queen’s Park estate, birthplace of Queen’s Park Rangers FC (see page 244). It may be imagined that such clubs serve mainly local needs. But boxers travel for miles for the right club. Seen opposite, Ryan Charles, who also represents St Lucia, is from Edmonton. Similarly, the 400 or so members of the Repton Boxing Club, aged from 8-34, come from all over London and the south to work out, some of them three times a week, at Nowadays the use of sport and their gym on Cheshire Street, recreation to stimulate urban Bethnal Green (top right). regeneration is widely accepted. So Opened in 1899, the Grade too is the adaptive re-use of historic II listed building was originally a buildings. An early example of both public wash house, and has housed trends is the John Orwell Sports the club since 1978. Adjoining it, Centre, on Tench Street, Wapping. the slipper bath section is now flats. A former dockyard workshop, the Repton are actually older gymnasium was originally converted than the building, having been by Shepheard Epstein Hunter in formed in 1884 as a mission 1980, and won a string of awards for under privileged boys by for its galvanising effect on what Repton School in Derbyshire. was then a community in decline. Based previously in the Victoria Also making a comeback is the Park area, they are one of Britain’s outdoor gymnasium. Seen on the leading clubs, including among left in Lismore Circus, Gospel their alumni Maurice Hope, Darren Oak, is one of eight created for Barker and Audley Harrison, as well Camden Council by the Great as the actor Ray Winstone and two Outdoor Gym Company in 2009. other once noted locals, the Kray twins. Frank Bruno is a patron. Photos of these and other visitors line the walls, along with posters urging members not to spit, and to remember, ‘No cuts, no glory!’ Also based in a Grade II listed former public baths, on Wells Way, Camberwell (far right), is the Lynn Boxing Club, founded in 1892 – a decade before their present building opened – and based from 1952-81 at Manor Place Baths.

144 Played in London Played in London 145 Lawn tennis

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum has possibly the largest collection of tennis-related artefacts in the world, but there are many collectors out there also, willing to pay high prices, particularly for items associated with star players. Fred Perry’s racket from the 1934 Wimbledon Championships, for example, sold at Christies in 1997 for £23,000. But acquisition is only part of the process. The exchange of knowledge is also highly valued. In Britain this led in 1988 to the formation of the Tennis Collectors Society, whose newsletters, edited From the moment that Major and tournament organisers for the success was to gain endorsements and compiled by Gerald Gurney Wingfield’s boxed sets appeared in right to become official suppliers. from top players. Below is an and Bob Everitt have provided a 1874, lawn tennis turned into a Wimbledon’s first suppliers of example. Dating from c.1895 this is mine of information for historians. veritable battleground of the balls were Jefferies of Woolwich, a Slazenger EGM, made, according Another unique resource is the brands, with Wimbledon itself followed in 1880 by FH Ayres to the company, ‘from the directions Kenneth Mitchell Library at emerging as one of the most potent. of Aldersgate, who also erected and adjustments’ of the well known Wimbledon. Opened in 1977, the Consider that the highest ranked temporary grandstands at Worple player from Kent, Ernest G Meers. library’s oldest book on tennis is by tennis tournaments today, the Road in exchange for fifty per Adverts for the racket insisted Antonio Scaino, an Italian priest. It Grand Slams, are the US Open (first cent of the ticket revenue. Ayres that Meers derived no ‘pecuniary was published in Venice in 1555. contested in 1881, a mere seven were still active in 1930 when the benefit’ from this association, a Apart from early rule books, years after Wingfield’s sets went branded balls above were issued. likely story but a common one at a almanacks and periodicals, one on sale), the French Open (1891) By that stage, however, they had time when shamateurism was rife. of the library’s strengths is its and the Australian Open (1905). lost their status as sole suppliers to The racket seen here, used and collection of tennis-related fiction, Yet in this country our Grand the tournament to Slazenger, who signed by Wimbledon champion such as the novel below. Published Slam is not the British Open, nor took over in 1902 and have held RF Doherty (who was actually by Methuen in 1930 it bore the It is to be expected that entering that is required all year round, and Add the fact that all but seven means that play can now continue even the English Open. Rather, it is the position ever since, absorbing Wimbledon born) is one of literally name of the tennis champion, Bill any large scale sporting arena will despite the cost of employing 16 Championships since 1922 have after sundown, although not later the ‘Wimbledon Championships’. Ayres along the way in 1940. hundreds of historic rackets held Tilden, whose own story was itself induce a certain frisson. But on ground staff (plus another dozen been affected by rain delays, which than 11.00pm in order to comply Wembley apart, surely no other Another brand inextricably linked in the collection of the Lawn a 20th century American epic. setting foot inside Wimbledon’s during the Championships). in turn has exasperated television with local planning agreements. London suburb enjoys such renown. with Wimbledon is Robinsons Barley Tennis Museum at Wimbledon, Centre Court what most people Even so, just as the composition schedulers in over 180 countries, Despite this, other than the east Understandably the AELTC Water, who signed up in 1934. where all the other artefacts react to instantaneously, viscerally, of hard courts has advanced, turf and it becomes clear why, in 2004, side of the Centre Court, which does its best to capitalise. So from Then there were suppliers of on this page are also held. without necessarily being able to technology has moved on too. after years of debate, the AELTC was completely rebuilt as part of its annual statistical roundup of clothing, shoes, nets, gut and line Opened in 1977 and rehoused explain why, is the grass. Since 2001 Centre Court’s announced that Centre Court the roof development, the inner the Championships – always an markers, plus builders of courts and in its current building in 2005 the Instinctively they know that surface has changed from a mix was at last to have a retractable core of Peach’s original design illuminating read – we learn that makers of lawn mowers. Under the museum is an absolute treasure were the grass to be replaced by of four grass types to a more roof (even though this meant remains remarkably intact. This in addition to sales of strawberries tennis section of a London trades trove of branded items, quirky an inorganic, synthetic surface, durable rye grass mix. Its cut has discarding a brilliantly engineered can be seen especially in the and cream (142,000 portions directory from 1915 no fewer products, posters, paintings and the space would take on an been raised from 6mm to 8mm. roof erected as recently as 1992). lower concourses and, above, by in 2012) and the distribution of than 41 companies were listed. tennis fashion, offering a brilliant entirely different character. Combined with advances in Costing an estimated £100 tracing the angled line of the low bananas to players (12,000), the Most intense of all was the rivalry exposition of the game’s history. Wimbledon is now the only players’ fitness and in the design million, and designed by Populous, balcony walls dividing the upper best selling items were Wimbledon between racket manufacturers. Some 70–80,000 visitors pass Grand Slam tournament still played of rackets and balls, this has led with engineers Capita Symonds, and lower tiers, still with Peach’s branded towels (25,000) and mini Until lawn tennis arrived, London’s through its doors every year, while on natural grass. The French have to a complete change in the way the concertina-style roof was first criss cross concrete detailing. tennis ball key rings (15,000). various firms, such asProsser of during the Championships it is always preferred clay. In New tennis is played at Wimbledon. used in 2009. It closes in ten The remodelling of the upper We think of the modern era as Pentonville Road (above right), had reckoned that at least 60,000 York they gave up turf in 1975. Instead of the old style of ‘serve minutes, but then it takes another level, meanwhile, has allowed a being especially commercial, but in served a relatively small number of ticket holders are from overseas. Melbourne followed suit in 1988. and volley’, players nowadays 30 minutes or so for the airflow further 1,200 seats to be added, lawn tennis it was ever thus, almost real tennis and rackets players from Once again, it would seem, But at Wimbledon the AELTC exchange blows more from inside the court to be adjusted taking the overall capacity up to from the off, as manufacturers modest workshops. Now, as new those inventive Victorians knew have remained faithful to their the baseline. The result is that so that play can resume. 15,000. Not changed, however, fought each other over patents and firms and improved manufacturing a thing or two when it came to roots, despite the painstaking care many games now take longer. The installation of lighting also are the 74 dark green Lloyd copyright, and bargained with clubs processes emerged, the key to combining business and pleasure. Loom wicker chairs that have After nine decades of alterations always furnished the Royal Box. the original canted outline of The world of tennis does have Stanley Peach’s 1922 Centre larger venues. Flushing Meadow Court can still be detected in New York holds over 23,000, on its south side, where first The O2 in London 17,500. floor balconies provide AELTC But these are modern, multi- members with views across the purpose venues with artificial southern courts. In the distance, surfaces. The Centre Court at spectators pack the Aorangi Wimbledon, by contrast, remains a Terrace (top left) to watch live temple to turf, a place where we are action on screen being relayed reminded of the roots of the game; from inside Centre Court. not of tennis, but of lawn tennis.

300 Played in London Played in London 301 IntroductionSpeedway

It was not only the big boys who that his frame had been rescued But as tracks became more In Canning Town Recreation derbies. One of the most popular in modern Britain, as witnessed liked to kick up some dirt. from a canal, and that a gas pipe sophisticated, as at Woodford Ground, Prince Regent Lane, this is was a track laid in 1955 in Garratt at east London’s new Olympic Photographed in October 1950, performed as handlebars, another (below left), with floodlights and the capital’s last functioning cycle Park, Wandsworth. Home at Velodrome and Velopark, two this was the makeshift track on that one of the mothers donated loudspeakers, not all Londoners speedway track, home of the East various times to the Tooting Tigers, miles to the west, it seems Larnaca Street SE1, home of the knicker elastic for starting gates. were enamoured. There were London Cycle Speedway Club. South London Rangers (whose baffling that cycle speedway has Bermondsey Greyhounds, one But then in most areas parents complaints about noise and bad By a random quirk of fate it president was Winifred Atwell) not also enjoyed a resurgence. of at least 200 cycle speedway and local businesses encouraged language, and as the Sunday lies barely 200 yards from the and most recently the Wimbledon One factor may be that the sport teams to have formed in London the sport. Regional leagues formed, Pictorial reported, in April 1951 site of the West Ham greyhound Rangers, it still exists but has not is surprisingly rough and tumble, between the early days of the sport trophies were presented by the members of one Paddington and speedway stadium, where so staged racing since the 1990s. with a good deal of jostling taking in 1945 and the mid 1950s. News Chronicle, and by the early team had to fight back the tears many east London ‘skid kids’ were Other late 20th century tracks, place between the four riders who, From the Acton Acorns to the 1950s cycle speedway had its own as council workers tore up their inspired to emulate their heroes. such as on Well Street Common, like their motorised counterparts, Woolwich Vampires, with 20 teams governing body, and a monthly carefully prepared track. There was Adjacent to the track is also the Hackney, and at the Welsh complete four circuits of the formed in Walthamstow alone, magazine and annual (left). equal dismay when, having erected site of a former 1930s lido (see Harp, Hendon, have meanwhile track in each race. Furthermore, here was a make-do-and-mend In 1953 the Children’s Film a fence around their Camberwell page 158), yet another casualty been grassed over, meaning that it requires considerable strength sport which grew up on bombsites Foundation released Skid Kids, a track, the Peckham Stars and of shifting recreational trends. today, the East London club’s and stamina to be able to sprint From the National Speedway – some say in south east London Saturday feature shot in Camberwell Ruskin Flyers were charged rates. On the plus side, of the 38 nearest rivals are in Ipswich. in short bursts, on bicycles that Museum, a bib from one of in particular – before spreading and Bermondsey (extracts of which Inevitably, as London’s bomb or so cycle speedway tracks still Given the revival in popularity have no brakes and only one gear. London’s most successful cycle across the whole of Britain. Thus can be viewed on the internet). sites were redeveloped – the operating in Britain, Canning Town of various other forms of cycling In common with speedway, speedway teams of the 1950s. cycle speedway may be considered Bermondsey track and pre-fab is one of the best. Measuring the more concern there is for one of the nation’s earliest teen homes to become the St Saviour’s 74m in length and with a slightly the future of cycle speedway, crazes (and as its pioneers were Estate, on Maltby Street – teams banked surface of ‘quarter inch the more treasured its heritage always keen to acknowledge, one became beholden to local dust shale’ imported from Scotland, becomes. Charting its journey from of their number, Rory Blackwell, authorities to create tracks in it was laid out in 1985 by the 1940s bombsites to 21st century of the Battersea-based London parks or on open spaces. A new London Docklands Development websites, there exists a plethora Aces, went on to form one of generation of older riders with Corporation to replace the tracks of of publications, forums and, Britain’s first rock and roll bands, better bicycles also changed the Bow Monarchs at Three Mills among the veterans’ association, the Blackjacks, in 1956). the character of the sport. and the Newham Rebels at Little a camaraderie that matches any Like skiffle, much of the appeal But even they could not Ilford Park. At that time there were other sport in its intensity. lay in emulating the professionals, defy the most damaging trend, still around 15 clubs competing in But will all this goodwill be and in making the best use of and that was the diminishing a London League, some attracting enough to save the sport in limited resources. One rider recalls popularity of speedway itself. crowds of 500 or more to local the city which gave it life?

336 Played in London Played in London 337