Bourne Park House and sheep fields - geograph

Bourne Paddock was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

ground at

Bourne Park House Bourne Park House is a Queen Anne style country house on Bourne Park Road, between Bishopsbourne and Bridge near Canterbury in Kent. Built in 1701, it has been listed Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England since 1954. An 18th ...

, the seat of

Sir Horatio Mann Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricket ...

, at

Bishopsbourne Bishopsbourne is a mostly rural and wooded village and civil parish in Kent, England. It has two short developed sections of streets at the foot of the Nailbourne valley south-east of Canterbury and centred from Dover. The settlement of P ...

around south-east of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in the English county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was a venue for

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

matches from 1766 to 1790. The ground was within the grounds of Bourne Park House. Archaeological surveys have shown that it was built on an area which was settled during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

periods.Wallace L ''et al.'' (2014) Archaeological Investigations of a Major Building, probably Roman, and related landscape features at Bourne Park, Bishopsbourne, 2011–12, ''Archaeologia Cantiana'', Vol. 134, pp.187–203.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-12-17).Wallace L, Johnson P, Strutt K (2013) ''Bourne Park (Bishopsbourne) Geophysical Survey 2012 Results'', Cambridge University.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-12-17). A modern

cricket pavilion A cricket pavilion is a pavilion at a cricket ground. It is the main building within which the players usually change in dressing rooms and which is the main location for watching the cricket match for members and others. Pavilions can vary from m ...

and a large iron roller used to roll the cricket pitch remain at the site, but the ground is no longer in use.Johnson P, Wallace L (2012) ''Bourne Park (Bishopsbourne) Geophysical Survey 2011 Results'', Cambridge University.
Available online
Retrieved 2017-12-17).

Matches

Bourne Paddock is first mentioned in an item in the ''Kentish Weekly Post'' describing a recent match involving Mann's own

Bourne Cricket Club Bourne Cricket Club was based at Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury in Kent, and played several major matches in the 18th century when it was one of the teams which effectively represented Kent as a county. Its home venue was Bourne Paddock. Bourne ...

and

Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...

in September 1766. The result of the game is unknown. Buckley GB (1935) ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', p.18. Birmingham: Cotterell. Bourne Cricket Club effectively represented Kent during the late 18th century and attracted large crowds to the ground. A total of 17 matches played on the ground were given retrospective

status by some sources.Bourne Paddock, Bishopsbourne
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-12-17. Its last known use was for a top-class game between East Kent and West Kent in September 1790. Haygarth A (1862) ''Cricket Scores And Biographies Of Celebrated Cricketers From 1746-1826. Vol 1''. Lillywhite. Mann moved away from Bourne soon afterward. A modern cricket club, Bishopsbourne Cricket Club, played matches on a ground at Charlton Park to the south of Bourne Park. This ground is still in use.Bishopsbourne Cricket Club
Bishopsbourne Parish Council. Retrieved 2018-06-10.Sports & Outdoor Activities
Charlton Park. Retrieved 2018-06-10.

References

{{English cricket venues to 1770 City of Canterbury Cricket grounds in Kent English cricket venues in the 18th century History of Kent