The Polytechnic Stadium is a sports venue on Hartington Road,
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
,
London. It is the centre piece of the
Quintin Hogg Memorial Grounds (now known as
University of Westminster Sports Grounds).
In 1888 Quintin Hogg built a boathouse near
Chiswick Bridge, which is used at the finish of the
university boat race each year.
[http://www.quintinhoggtrust.org/pdf/QHMF%20QHT%20BOARDS%20ROWING%20RUGBY%20LO_RES.pdf ][http://recordsandarchives.westminster.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2019/05/Chiswick-Research-Guide.pdf ] When Hogg died in 1903, an appeal to raise funds for a memorial in his memory took place. The
Quintin and Alice Hogg Memorial was built and a piece of land in Chiswick was purchased.
In 1936 plans were drawn up for a sports stadium to be built at the site. The design was undertaken by Joseph Addison, Head of Architecture at
Regent Street Polytechnic. The stadium was home to the 'Polytechnic Harriers' athletics club, along with several local clubs and schools. It was also used for international and national competitions as soon as it was built, including the
Amateur Athletic Association
The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...
championships.
In 1938 the sports ground was extended for the stadium to be built by 7.5 acres.
The grandstand had a capacity of 658 spectators and contained a restaurant on the first floor. In July 1944 the stadium suffered bomb damage with all the windows blown out and the running track damaged.
Behind the stand there is a miniature railway.
From 1938 until 1973 the
Polytechnic Marathon finished at the stadium. In the 1963 edition of the marathon a world record was set at the stadium by
Leonard Edelen.
Primarily a track and field athletics venue, it hosted the
field hockey preliminaries for the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
.
The grandstand is now a listed grade 2 protected structure, but is unused due to it not being able to meet modern health and safety criteria.
[http://democraticservices.hounslow.gov.uk/(S(andasi4544gnyd45ywlcb345))/documents/s3299/07%20Quintin%20Hogg.pdf ]
It was the home stadium of
rugby league team
Fulham RLFC (now the
London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England.
The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...
) between 1985 and 1990.
References
External links
*
Polytechnic StadiumVideo of Olympic athletics trials at the stadiumVideo of Windsor to Chiswick Marathon in 1950Jim Peters Marathon World Record
Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics
Olympic field hockey venues
Defunct rugby league venues in England
London Broncos
Sports venues in London
Chiswick
Buildings and structures in Chiswick
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