Angel Ground
Location | Tonbridge, Kent |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°11′33″N 0°16′28″E / 51.1925°N 0.2745°E |
Owner | Tonbridge Cricket Club (1905–1945) Tonbridge Urban District Council (1947–1980) |
Type | Sports ground |
Record attendance | 8,236 (Tonbridge Angels F.C. vs Aldershot F.C., 1951–52) |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | 1868 (first known use) |
Closed | 1980 |
Demolished | 1980 |
Tenants | |
Kent County Cricket Club (1869–1939) Tonbridge Angels F.C. (1948–1980) |
The Angel Ground was a sports ground at
The ground was located in the centre of Tonbridge, around 250 metres (820 ft) north-east of Tonbridge railway station, just to the east of Tonbridge High Street. It was bordered on the north by a branch of the River Medway and suffered from flooding in 1925.[1][2][3]
Cricket venue
The ground was named after the nearby Angel Hotel[4] and was initially used as a cricket ground. Although a field near the Angel Inn is first referenced as a cricket ground in 1844, the first recorded match, featuring Tonbridge Cricket Club, was in 1868.[5][6] The club purchased the ground in 1905 for £4,300 and used it until 1942.[7][8][9]
The ground was first used as a venue for
Kent played a total of 106 First XI matches on the ground,
Records on the ground
A total of 106 first-class matches were held on the ground, all of them featuring Kent as the home side.[14][16]
- Highest total: 621/6 declared by Kent against Essex, 1922
- Lowest total: 16 by Warwickshire against Kent, 1913
- Highest partnership: 307, 2nd wicket by JG Langridge and HW Parks, for Sussex against Kent, 1939
- Highest individual score: 240, EH Hendren, for Middlesex against Kent, 1925
- Best bowling in an innings: 10/48, CHG Bland, for Sussex against Kent, 1899
- Best bowling in a match: 15/76, C Blythe, for Kent against Hampshire, 1904
The total made against Essex in 1922 was Kent's highest total in first-class cricket when it was set. As of December 2017, it remains the fifth highest score in the county's history.[17] The score of 16 made by Warwickshire in 1913 is the lowest ever made against a Kent side.[17] It was scored in the Warwickshire second innings, the side being bowled out in 45 minutes.[18]
One of Kent's greatest bowlers, Colin Blythe, made his debut for the county on the Angel Ground in 1899. Playing against Yorkshire, he bowled Frank Mitchell with his first ball in first-class cricket, one of only three men to have taken a wicket with their first ball in first-class cricket whilst playing for Kent.[19][20][21]
The Tonbridge Nursery
In 1897, the ground became the base for the "Tonbridge Nursery", a player development centre established by Kent to train young professional cricketers.[22] This was deemed necessary by the Kent Committee as after dominating county cricket in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, the county had become a weaker side. When the County Championship was formerly established in 1890 Kent were initially able to finish only in mid table and by 1896 the county's administrators had determined that something needed to be done to strengthen the side.[23][24]
The establishment of the Nursery was one of the key developments that lay the foundations for the successes of the pre-
The Nursery began to pay dividends quickly and Kent finished third in the Championship in 1900,[31] and by 1904 The Times was able to call it a "brilliant success".[32] The nursery closed in 1927, with player development moving to the St Lawrence Ground at Canterbury.[22][33]
Wartime use and sale
Occasional wartime cricket matches were held on the ground and the final match, played in 1942, was abandoned after German bombers began to jettison bombs over the town.
Football venue
Following their formation and election to the
The ground saw its record attendance for Tonbridge's 1951–52 FA Cup first-round tie against Aldershot F.C., when 8,236 supporters watched a 0–0 draw. Another FA Cup tie, against Charlton Athletic F.C. in 1972–73, saw 7,770 attend.[4]
By 1977 the council required the ground for redevelopment. A three-year legal battle was fought, eventually reaching the High Court, before the council offered the club a new ground, the Longmead Stadium on the north-western edge of the town.[4][38] The club took the old main stand with them from the ground and this remains in use at the new ground.[38] The Angel Ground was sold for £1.7 million and the club played its last game at the ground in January 1980, with Mickey Angel scoring the last goal on the ground. They played the remainder of their home matches during the season at a variety of grounds across Kent before moving to the Longmead Stadium for the start of the 1980–81 season.[4] The ground was demolished and a supermarket, department store and Angel leisure centre replaced it.[16][22][39]
References
- ^ Explorer Map 147 – Sevenoaks & Tonbridge (Royal Tunbridge Wells & Westerham), Ordnance Survey, 2015-09-16.
- ^ Kent v Essex, The Times, issue 35602, 1898-08-23, p. 9.
- ^ The floods in Kent, The Times, issue 43851, 1925-01-05, p. 14.
- ^ a b c d e Club History Archived 4 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Tonbridge Angels F.C. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ Milton H (1979) Kent cricket grounds, in The Cricket Statistician, no. 28, December 1979, pp. 2–10.
- ^ a b c Other matches played on Angel Ground, Tonbridge, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ Cricket: The Tonbridge Week, The Times, issue 37669, 1905-03-31, p. 12.
- ^ Cricket: The Angel Ground, Tonbridge, The Times, issue 37674, 1905-04-06, p. 12.
- ^ a b c A brief history of Tonbridge Cricket Club, accessed at The Club Archived 1 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Tonbridge Cricket Club. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ a b First-Class Matches played on Angel Ground, Tonbridge, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ Cricket: The Kent Festivals, The Times, issue 40239, 1913-06-16, p. 13.
- ^ Kent v Essex, The Times, issue 39610, 1911-06-13, p. 16.
- ^ Hignell A (2013) Rain Stops Play: Cricketing Climates, p. 70. London: Routledge. (Available online. Retrieved 2017-12-11).
- ^ a b Grounds Records in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017, pp. 210–211. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
- ^ Minor Counties Championship matches played on Angel Ground, Tonbridge, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ a b Angel Ground, Tonbridge, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ a b Milton H (2016) 'Team Records' in Reid J (ed) 2016 Kent County Cricket Club Annual, pp. 199–202, Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club
- ^ Kent v Warwickshire at Tonbridge, June 19, 20, 21, in The Shorter Wisden 2013: The Best Writing from Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2013, p. 213. London: A & C Black. (Available online. Retrieved 2017-12-11).
- ^ 'Bowling records' in Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017, pp. 197–205. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
- ^ Colin Blythe 1879-1917, Kent County Cricket Club, 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
- ISBN 978-1-908336-63-7.
- ^ a b c Tonbridge Cricketers, Tonbridge Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ISBN 978-1-907524-40-0.
- ^ a b Kent County Cricket Club Timeline, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ Marsham G (1907) A short history of Kent cricket, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1907. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ^ Moseling & Quarrington Op. cit., pp. 2–3.
- ^ Lewis Op. cit., p. 33.
- ^ Moseling & Quarrington Op. cit., p. 11.
- ^ Moseling & Quarrington Op. cit. p. 3.
- ^ Kent Cricket: A Retrospect, The Times, issue 39657, 1911-08-07, p. 13.
- ^ Moseling & Quarrington Op. cit, pp. 3–4.
- ^ The Kent Averages, The Times, 1904-09-05, p. 10.
- ^ Kent County Club, The Times, issue 44832, 1928-03-03, p. 5.
- ^ Tonbridge Cricket Ground, The Times, issue 49967, 1944-09-30, p. 2.
- ^ Angel Ground's Future, The Times, issue 50122, 1945-04-20, p. 6.
- ^ The Angel Ground, The Times, issue 50336, 1945-12-29, p. 2.
- ^ Council's £5,500 offer for cricket ground, The Times, issue 50725, 1947-04-02, p. 2.
- ^ a b Tonbridge Angels FC, Pyramid Passion. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
- ^ Britain's lost cricket grounds, The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-12-11.