Windmill Down is a rural location near the town of Hambledon in

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 ...

. From 1782 to 1795, it was the home of the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...

as 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. Hambledon used

Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, b ...

from at least 1753 until 1781 when it was abandoned for being "too remote". Broadhalfpenny is about two miles from the village whereas Windmill Down is adjacent, although Broadhalfpenny had a pub immediately opposite (the famous

Bat and Ball Inn The Bat & Ball Inn is a historic eighteenth-century pub near Clanfield, Hampshire, England. The earliest widely accepted written rules for the game of cricket were drafted at the pub. History The pub is situated opposite the Broadhalfpenny Down ...

) but Windmill Down did not.

Ashley Mote Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after ...

, ''The Glory Days of Cricket'', Robson, 1997 On Tuesday 18 June 1782, the ''Hampshire Chronicle'' reported the first meeting on Windmill Down, referring to the ground as "a field called the New Broad Halfpenny adjoining to the Town of Hambledon".

G B Buckley George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fath ...

, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935 It is probable but unconfirmed that the first match was played there a week later. The first definite

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 ...

match was

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

in August 1782, All-England winning by 147 runs. Windmill Down was used regularly as the home venue for Hampshire matches until July 1795 when the last recorded match took place there.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862

References

Further reading