Clarence Park was given to the town of

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

by Rebecca Davies in memory of her husband. The cricket pavilion at the park dates from 1882. A multitude of sports have been played at the park, including

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 str ...

. The ground is owned by the local council. It is currently used by

Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. Since the club's formation in 1845, they have nurtured a number of players who have gone on to play for Somerset County Cricket ...

Layout

The park is laid out in two sections. The western section is considerably the larger and is separated from the eastern section by Walliscote Road. The eastern section is a large trapezoidal area of flat open lawn, with an encircling pathway; outside the pathway, there is a wide band of less manicured land heavily populated with mature trees. The lawned area (pictured) is often used to host cricket matches. The cricket pavilion is at the western edge, backing onto Walliscote Road. Part of the southern edge of the lawn is marked out for use as a

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

pitch; croquet matches are frequently held during the summer months. During recent years, this eastern section of Clarence Park has been used as a drop-off and pickup zone for the

T4 on the Beach T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...

music event. The western section of the park is laid out as a more formal park with mature trees, flower beds, lawned areas, and a fish pond with fountain. Part of the southern end of this section is taken up by the clubhouse and 3 greens of the Clarence

Bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thou ...

Club. At the north end, near Walliscote Road, there is a house originally used as the park-keeper's lodge. There is a children's play area near the western edge. Approximately in the centre of the western section of the park, there is a small pavilion, operated in recent years as a cafe. The future of the cafe is currently under threat as a result of an arson attack which took place in early September 2011.

Cricket

The park played host to home matches for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

between 1914 and 1996. The ground had a capacity of 6,000 spectators. The first recorded match on the ground which involved a senior cricket team was on 21 August 1914 and saw a Weston-super-Mare team play Glamorgan, seven years before Glamorgan were awarded first-class status. Several days later Somerset played their first match on the ground against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. The highest attendance at the ground was 6,000 during a match against

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

in the

1947 County Championship 1947 was the 48th season of County Championship cricket in England. It is chiefly remembered for the batting performances of Denis Compton and Bill Edrich who established seasonal records that, with the subsequent reduction in the number of fir ...

season. In 1936, there was talk about moving the Weston festival away from Clarence Park, a move strongly resisted by

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, who thought the ground to be "lovely". The festival remained at the ground for another sixty years, until the August 1996 Cricket Festival when Somerset played their final first-class or List A match at Clarence Park. Their final opponent on the ground was

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

References

{{Somerset CCC Cricket grounds in Somerset Sports venues in Somerset Parks and open spaces in Somerset Weston-super-Mare Sports venues completed in 1882 Sport in Weston-super-Mare