Derby Racecourse is a former horse racing venue in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, England, from 1848 to 1939. It was preceded by two earlier courses, at different locations.

Earlier courses

It is unknown exactly when horse racing first started in Derby, although a reference to racing in the town occurs in the play ''

Monsieur Thomas ''Monsieur Thomas'' is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher that was first published in 1639. Date and Source Scholars date the play to the 1610–16 period. Fletcher's source for the play's plot was the second part of ...

'', published in 1639. Races associated with fairs were probably held at a variety of locations, perhaps including Nuns' Green in the modern West End. Sinfin Moor, located some way south of Derby, was being used by the early 18th century – probably by 1707 and certainly by 1733, although racing still took place elsewhere as well. By 1748, Sinfin Moor had become established as the fixed venue for racing in Derby, with a prefabricated grandstand being erected. Racing was becoming increasingly fashionable, and meetings were held in conjunction with entertainments in the Assembly Rooms and various public houses in the town. On a number of occasions, however, waterlogging forced race meetings to be moved to The Holmes, close to the centre of Derby on the south bank of the River Derwent. This, combined with the process of enclosure into fields of the previously open Moor, led by the end of the 18th century to the course being permanently moved to The Holmes, where a "handsome and commodious" grandstand was built. With the arrival and expansion of the railways in the area, this site eventually became impractical, and was last used in 1844.

1848 course

The final Derby Racecourse, which featured a straight mile, opened in May 1848 on land off the Nottingham Road, east of

Little Chester Little Chester, also known as Chester Green after the area of open parkland at its centre, is a suburb of the city of Derby, in Derbyshire, England. It is located approximately north of the city centre, on the east bank of the River Derwent. It ...

and west of

Chaddesden Chaddesden, also known locally as Chadd, is a large residential suburb of Derby, United Kingdom. Historically a separate village centred on Chaddesden Hall and the 14th century St Mary's Church, the area was significantly expanded by 20th-centu ...

. A grandstand designed by Henry Duesbury was built in 1852, and in 1856 the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

opened Nottingham Road station to serve the course. In 1863, the South Derbyshire Cricket Club also moved to the venue from The Holmes, and a cricket ground was constructed within the southern curve of the racecourse. The Racecourse Ground, as it was initially known, later became the County Cricket Ground after the Derbyshire County Cricket Club started playing there in 1871. The Racecourse Ground was also a football venue; it was the home of

Derby County F.C. Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

from 1884 until 1895, and hosted an

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

replay and an

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

match as well. The Duesbury grandstand was replaced in 1911 by a "larger but far less elegant building" with a distinctive domed roof. Like its predecessor, the stand served spectators for cricket as well as racing. The final race meeting at Derby took place on 9 August 1939, with Gordon Richards riding one of the last winners. Following the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the Racecourse was taken over for military use by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, and anti-aircraft guns were positioned on the site. The Derby Recreation Company, who leased the land from the Corporation, were given notice in 1942 that the lease would not be renewed after 1945. After the War, the town council confirmed that racing would not be resumed in Derby, as it would "bring the wrong sort of people into the town".

After closure

Following the closure of the Racecourse, the land was retained by the council for public recreation and partially converted into football pitches. The area is still known as the Racecourse Playing Fields. The County Cricket Ground also remained on the site, and in 1955 the cricket field was moved eastwards and closer to the grandstand. The stand itself – along with its public house, the Grandstand Hotel – continued in use up until 1998, but became extremely dilapidated in later years and was demolished in 2001. Its site is now occupied by the ground's Gateway Centre. Other racing-related structures, such as the old stables and judges' box, were adapted for use by the cricket club, but have also been lost to 21st century redevelopment. The last remaining racecourse feature, the jockeys' quarters, was demolished in 2009. A Roman settlement, now known as

Derby Racecourse Roman settlement The Derby Racecourse Roman settlement was the third settlement in Derby or Derventio which was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. It lies 600m east of Derventio fort in Little Chester, on the outskirts of Derby, in the English coun ...

, was previously on the site. Archaeological excavations took place in 1974.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Sports venues in Derby Defunct horse racing venues in England Parks and commons in Derby 1848 establishments in England Sports venues completed in 1848 1939 disestablishments in England Urban public parks in the United Kingdom