Wye Racecourse (29 May 1849 – June 1975) was a British horse racing venue at Wye,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. By 1878 it was about south of

Wye railway station Wye railway station serves Wye in Kent, England, on the Ashford to Ramsgate line. The station and all trains that serve the station are operated by Southeastern. History The first plan for a station near Wye was in 1812, when John Rennie the E ...

. Wye Racecourse's inaugural 1849 meeting was held in Fanscombe Valley, an isolated coombe and natural amphitheatre directly north of Wye Crown, and

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

from Wye village. Fanscombe Valley had formerly been a manor in the ownership of St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark. The meeting became a regular fixture of the

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

calendar on Oak Leaf Day, May 29th coinciding with Wye Fair. A crowd of 20,000 was reportedly attracted in 1863, despite the difficult access, uphill walk and tiny, course. Accounts suggest a significant proportion of the crowd were more interested in free admission,

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt describes ...

and the ''fair maidens of Kent'' than horses. By 1878, Wye's racing had moved to the

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

course on Harville Road. A

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was constructed for racegoers' trains at the south east of the present

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

, and across the track from the new racecourse. Steeplechase meetings were held in September, January, March, and May. The last was in 1974, and the course closed permanently by June 1975. The Jockey Club had asked for improvements to

camber Camber may refer to a variety of curvatures and angles: * Camber angle, the angle made by the wheels of a vehicle * Camber beam, an upward curvature of a joist to compensate for load deflection due in buildings * Camber thrust in bike technology * ...

on the bottom bend, and to the stands. The course was described as being ''less than one mile (1.6 km) around, and more suited to a greyhound track than a racecourse''. It ''could not be entirely classed as the ideal preparation for a tilt at the Champion Hurdle''. , both racecourses are

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bo ...

References

{{Horse racing in Great Britain Horse racing venues in England Defunct horse racing venues in England 1849 establishments in England 1975 disestablishments in England Sports venues completed in 1849 Defunct sports venues in Kent