Priory Park is a public park in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, operated by Chichester District Council. It is situated in the north-east quadrant of Chichester City centre. The park has a rich heritage and is bordered by the medieval city walls to the north and east which are built upon the original Roman foundations. The park contains

Chichester Castle Chichester Castle stood in the city of the same name in West Sussex (). Shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, Roger de Montgomery ordered the construction of a castle at Chichester. The castle at Chichester was one of 11 fortified sites ...

and the Guildhall.

History

The poet and artist

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

was tried in the guildhall located in the park The park has also played host to

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

matches, holding its first first-class match in 1852 (before the park itself was established) when

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

played an

All-England Eleven In English cricket since the first half of the 18th century, various ''ad hoc'' teams have been formed for short-term purposes which have been called England (or sometimes "All-England"; i.e., in the sense of "the rest of England") to play against, ...

. In 1882 and 1886 the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

played on the ground, although Sussex were not their opponents: they played Lord March's XI (owner of the nearby

Goodwood Estate Goodwood may refer to: Events * Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorsport event in the United Kingdom * Glorious Goodwood, a horseracing event in the United Kingdom * Goodwood Revival, a historical motorsport event in the United Kingdom Places a ...

) and against a United Eleven. It was in the Australians' match against the United Eleven that the great

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

played on the ground. Having last played on the ground in 1852, Sussex returned there in 1906 playing a 1906

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

match against local rivals

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Sussex last played on the ground in 1950 against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. In May 2017, two Roman town houses were found underneath the park using Ground penetrating radar equipment. One of the houses included a hot room and baths.

Present

Today the ground is used by Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club who play in the Sussex Cricket League Division Two. Chichester City Colts Under 9's football team play here too, it is affectionately known as 'The Fortress'

Gallery

File:Autumn in Priory Park (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1558861.jpg, Park in Autumn File:Bowling Green, Priory Park - geograph.org.uk - 984068.jpg, Bowling Green File:Guildhall and Priory Park in the snow, January 2010 - geograph.org.uk - 1729703.jpg, Park in snow File:North Walls in Priory Park - geograph.org.uk - 984056.jpg, North walls

References

External links

Priory Park Ground
on CricketArchive Cricket grounds in West Sussex 1918 establishments in England Parks and open spaces in West Sussex Tourist attractions in Chichester Sports venues completed in 1852 {{WestSussex-geo-stub