Castles, Manors and Cricket Grounds
A team’s home ground is often referred to as their fortress, though not many teams can boast an actual castle as their home ground. Blended with a rich history to accompany them, these mansions provide a backdrop which would be easy for many participants to be distracted by.
Bamburgh Castle
Location: Northumberland, England
Home team: Bamburgh Castle Cricket Club
Sitting high above the North Sea on the coast of Northumberland for over 1,400 years, the Bamburgh Castle has had a long, turbulent history. Established in Anglo-Saxon times as a royal castle, it has been ransacked and destroyed by the Vikings and later rebuilt by the Normans. The castle has had visits ( albeit usually in an unpeaceful manner) from royals including William II, Edward I and Henry VI. Spanning across nine acres of land, the castle is one of the largest inhabited castles in the the UK. It is easy to see why James I decided that it was too difficult to maintain before selling it.
Over the centuries passed, the castle fell into disrepair before Lord Armstrong (1810-1900) acquired the property just before his death. The castle remains in the hands of the Armstrong family, its current owner, Frances Watson-Armstrong is the cricket club’s president. The castle has also played location for scenes from Becket, The Devils, Elizabeth and Macbeth.
Originally based in Glebe Field, Bamburgh Cricket Club moved to the castle in 1895, after Lord Armstrong landscaped the area. Although the club does not pay the rent, a friendly arrangement sees them cut the greens twice a week (even in football season). Besides, cricket, croquet is also played just outside the boundary with cricket balls landing on the greens every once in a while prompting some friendly sledges between participants.
Blenheim Palace
Location: Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England
Home team: Blenheim Park Cricket Club
Blenheim, the home of the Duke of Marlborough, has hosted cricket matches since the end of the 19th century. Like many other estates, Blenheim Palace managed its own team, even employing cricket professionals to ensure high standard were maintained.
Regular cricket stopped when estates were no longer able to sustain their pool of cricket-playing staff and did not resume until the 1950s, when the 10th Duke of Marlborough suggested the formation of a local team, offering the palace grounds as its home.
Since then, the Blenheim Park Cricket Club, who mainly consist of locals who live and work in the area, have had the privilege to play on the palace’s south lawn. There is no need for the club to compete in a particular league, because there are so many teams eager to play at these scenic venue, including regular visitors; Zingari and Bunburys accompanied by Sir Ian Botham and Mark Ramprakash. The high demand also means that most of the club’s matches are played at home, away games are saved for when the venue is being used by the palace such as the International Horse Trials.
As a ‘thank you’ for the opportunity to play in it’s amazing settings, the club built a modest pavillion which includes change rooms but not showers. The club happily make these available to the palace who do are not charge for use of the ground and looks after the outfield, however, the club prepares the wicket.
As a popular tourist destination, cricket sometimes has to be paused so a visitor from a non-cricket-playing nation, who has unknowingly wandered onto the playing area can be gently redirected. A time-out may also occur while a guest of the Duke arrives in a helicopter.
Castle Ashby House
Location: Northamptonshire, England
Home team: Castle Ashby Cricket Club
Cricket was first played at this lovely location in the late 19th century when the house took on the stables and estate workers. Those games remain today in the annual House vs Gardens XI match.
The once manor house grew in significance in the 14th century. Elizabeth I stayed there in 1600, and her successor James I in 1605. Although it is entitled to the formal name ‘castle’, it is more like a mansion. Since the mid-16th century, it has belonged to the family of the Marquess of Northampton, whose family name is Compton (no relation to the famous cricketing name).
A pavilion was constructed in 1904 and positioned so the then Earl couldn’t see it from his bedroom. Since then in 1974 a more convenient and less architecturally impressive pavilion was built by members and financed by the 6th Marquess of Northampton. An ash tree sits adjacent to the playing area and award 6 to a batsman who hits it on the full. The boundary was once the road which runs around the edge of the large field, however, much to older player’s delight, the boundary has been shortened with the use of markers.
Lord Braybrooke’s Ground
Location: Audley End House, Saffron Walden, Essex, England
Home team: Audley End and Littlebury Cricket Club
The beautiful mansion that stands in the heart of these grounds is known as Audley End House currenly belongs to the English Heritage. Over the centuries it has past through several twists. Dating back to the Norman era, in the 16th century, it was a Benedictine abbey. In the 17th century, it was rebuilt in a palace form and bought by Charles II to use as a base for attending Newmarket races. Its subsequent owners cut it down to the size it is today.
Towards the middle of the 18th century, it was passed to the Braybrooke family who owned it until 1948. It is thanks to them and in particular, The fifth Lord Braybrooke, Charles Neville, that the local cricket club can enjoy the use one of the most scenic settings in English cricket.
Cricket has had a long history at Audley End with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) regularly visiting in the 19th century. In 1848, an Audley End player by the name of John Wisden took five wickets in a game which they won by 61 runs. In 1948, when the then Lord Braybrooke decided to hand over the property to the English Heritage, he made one condition; that the club could continue to use the ground rent-free. This was agreed upon, however, the English Heritage insisted that the club play its matches on the far side of the river Cam. The only rule: balls hit into the river earn six runs, even if it bounces first.
Today, the Audley End Cricket Club play in Division 1 of the Cambridge League with the wicket described as ‘slow’, though this is not a deterrent as there is no shortage of teams wishing to sample the venue first-hand, providing the home team ample opportunities for friendly matches.
Milton Abbey School
Location: Blandford Forum, Dorset, England
Home team: Milton Abbey School Cricket Team
Standing in a junction of valleys in Dorset near the town of Blandford Forum is Milton Abbey. Opening in 1954, the school is relatively young, especially for an English public school, but what the school lacks in age, the grounds they sit on makes up for in history, dating back to the 10th century. Once a Benedictine monastery, established in 964 and destroyed by fire in 1309, although the rebuilding started immediately, it did not reach its present size until 1400.
Like many monastic establishments, life came to a halt with the dissolution of monasteries by Henry VIII, though the Benedictine influence is still evident at Milton Abbey today. The property eventually became the possession of the 1st Earl of Dorchester, who built the elegant Gregorian mansion house which provides the stunning backdrop to the school’s cricket matches.
Stretching for many of acres, the grounds are looked after by a team of six people. With three cricket squares, a nine-hole golf course, football, rugby and hockey pitches, it is fair to say that the school is not short on space for sports. The school plays regularly against the MCC and the Forty Club among other schools, while also making the grounds available for disability cricket.
Portchester Castle
Location: Staindrop, County Durham, England
Home team: Portchester Castle Cricket Club
Located at the base of Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England, a few miles from the great naval port, Portchester Castle was built by the Romans and was the first fortress built to protect the harbour. Games are played between two historic monuments: a Roman fort and a medieval castle which is built within the outer wall of the fort. Dating back to AD 290 and 11th century respectively, the buildings have been very well preserved.
Portchester Castle Cricket Club is the local team which was formed in 1885 and competes in the Hampshire League. Unfortunately, they cannot claim cricketing heights as great as the castle’s history. The beauty of the location brings several inconveniences, with big hits often resulting in cricket balls finding their way to over the wall and into the sea. There is also no purpose-built pavilion, so the club uses St Mary’s church within same the grounds, while players resort to changing in the car park like many other park cricket teams.
Raby Castle
Location: Staindrop, County Durham, England
Home team: Raby Castle Cricket Club
Built by the Nevill family in the 14th century, Raby Castle associations with cricket go back a long time. It was the venue for the first recorded cricket match ever played in Durham in 1751 between the Earl of Northumberland’s XI and the Duke of Cleveland’s XI. A commemorative match to mark the occasion was played in 1992 featuring the full Durham XI including Sir Ian Botham.
Raby Castle Cricket Club have played here since 1890 and benefited from a great relationship with the landlords. In 1991 when a foot and mouth epidemic broke out, preventing the club from using the ground for the entire season, the castle looked after the playing field for the duration. More recently, in 2015, the club celebrated its 125th anniversary, Lord Barnard (a club patron) kindly allowed them to hold the event in the entrance hall of the castle.
The pitch runs east to west and due to the loss of some trees, play is occasionally suspended or bowling will take place from one end because of the brightness of the sun. Unlike some other ground, hitting a tree is not a four or six and batsmen must continue to run until the ball crosses the boundary. This raises the question what would be the ruling if the ball was lodged in the branches of the tree? Upon being retrieved, the ball is yet to bounce and therefore caught?…Right?