Lamb's Conduit Field, also known as Lamb's Conduit Fields was an open area in what is now the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...

. The fields lay north of the Lamb's Conduit water feature that gave it its name, and lay mostly in the parish of St Pancras. It was a noted

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 ...

venue in the first half of the 18th century.

Location

Its location was partly that now called

Coram's Fields Coram's Fields is a seven acre urban open space in the Kings Cross area of the London Borough of Camden. Adults are only permitted to enter if accompanied by children. History The park is situated on the former site of the Foundling Hosp ...

. Coram's Field is situated on the former site of the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

, established by

Thomas Coram Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said ...

in what was then named Lamb's Conduit Field in 1739. It is not to be confused with

White Conduit Fields White Conduit Fields in Islington was an early venue for cricket and several major matches are known to have been played there in the 18th century. It was the original home of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). ...

, in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, which was another venue of 18th century cricket. It is believed that Lamb's Conduit Field ceased to be a cricket venue when construction of the Foundling Hospital was approved in or before 1739.

Cricket venue

Lamb's Conduit Field is known to have been used for matches from 1707. The first match known to have been played there was in June 1707 when London met

Mitcham Cricket Club Mitcham Cricket Club is reported by ''The Independent'' to be the oldest cricket club in existence, with the club having played cricket on Mitcham Cricket Green since 1685. The club was reportedly watched by Lord Nelson during his time in the are ...

.CricketArchive – Matches played on Lamb's Conduit Fields, Holborn
Retrieved on 10 April 2010. There is a gap of over twenty years before the venue recurs in the cricket records. It was used in 1731 for when London played against an Enfield team and was then used twice in 1736 for London v

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

v Surrey. By this time, the London club was using the

Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is an open space originally set aside for archery and later known also as a cricket venue. Today it is used for military exercises, cricket, rugby and football matches. It belongs to the Honourable Artillery Co ...

as its primary venue and the construction of the Foundling Hospital probably ended its interest in Lamb's Conduit Field.

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2020 1707 establishments in England Cricket grounds in Middlesex Cricket in Middlesex Defunct cricket grounds in England Defunct sports venues in London English cricket venues in the 18th century History of Middlesex Middlesex Sport in the London Borough of Camden Sport in London Sports venues completed in 1707 Sports venues in London