Exeter Greyhound Stadium, also known as the Marsh Barton Stadium, was a greyhound racing stadium in

Marsh Barton Marsh Barton is the largest trading estate in Exeter, covering over . It supports over 500 diverse businesses including one of Europe's largest motoring centres, showrooms, city plumbing, Exeter College's automotive site, builders merchants, ...

, Exeter. It is not to be confused with the

County Ground Stadium The County Ground Stadium was a rugby union, greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Exeter, Devon. It was one of two separate venues in Exeter known as the County Ground, along with the still-used County Cricket Ground. It is also not to ...

that also hosted independent greyhound racing and speedway from 1930 to 1986.

Origins and opening

south of Exeter and north of Alphington consisted of the former

Marsh Barton Priory Marsh Barton Priory, otherwise the Priory of St Mary de Marisco or St Mary of the Marsh, was a cell of Augustinian Canons in Marsh Barton, Exeter, Devon, England. It was founded in the mid-12th century. Although a small house, it owned a fair am ...

also known as St Marys Priory (home to

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

) and Marsh Barton Lane which led to the Priory and Cottage at the turn of the 20th century. Either side to west and east were the Teign Valley line and Great Western Railway respectively; the former swung in a westerly direction towards Ide whilst the latter made its way south to Dawlish. The site was selected as the ideal place for a new greyhound track with the nearby catchment area of Exeter. The stadium was constructed along the south side of Marsh Barton Lane and consisted of four buildings on the home straight. Racing began Saturday 21 July 1928 and was hailed as a success by the local press. The venue was initially known as Oak Marsh before Marsh Barton was used. The first ever winner was Mr Tolkien's Sparks. The promoter was Mr J Bonus but the track was independent (unaffiliated to a governing body) at this stage.

History

The racing continued over the following years until Mr Henry James Shooter the chief steward at Marsh Barton took over the betting licence in 1935. The nearby

in Exeter (formerly the Devon County Athletic Ground) also hosted greyhound racing from 1935 and became a serious rival for Marsh Barton by consistently pulling in larger crowds. After 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 decision was made to race under

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...

(NGRC) rules for the first time, with the events being conducted on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights. The final independent race took place on 14 Sep 1946 with first NGRC race just two weeks later on 28 September 1946. During 1948 the NGRC experimented with an open kennel system at the track; it was the first time that greyhounds were able to be trained by their owners instead of resident trainers, in addition private trainers were allowed to enter for graded races. Speedway took place from the period 1945-1951 although the rival County Ground Stadium became the home to the

Exeter Falcons The Exeter Falcons were a speedway team based in the city of Exeter. The Falcons operated from 1947 to 2005 at the County Ground Stadium in Exeter. History In 1947, the Falcons competed in a league for the first time when they finished four ...

speedway team until 2005. The greyhound track was described as an average size course, 456 yards in circumference with an 'Inside Sumner' hare. Distances raced were 300, 500, 525, 700 yards with hurdle events over 525 & 525 yards. All greyhounds were kennelled at the track with four trainers and room for 150 dogs. In November 1949 the track once again became independent due to increased costs brought about by being a member of the NGRC and the fact that many of Marsh Barton's independent fraternity had switched allegiance to the County Ground. Major problems arose in 1950 when the track announced significant losses and went into receivership. Attempting to sell the track at auction was initially a disaster because the valuation of £42,500 was not met. The bidding stopped at £22,000, well below the reserve, it was decided that the 16 acres would be sold privately.

Closure

The stadium operated for just seven more years before finally closing its doors in November 1957, it was demolished making way for development on an expanding trading estate.

Track records

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England