Sidmouth Cricket Club was founded in 1823 and is one of the oldest cricket clubs in the Southwest. Its ground, the Fort Field, adjacent to the sea, took its name from a small fort at its southern edge. The fort had existed for over 200 years, but it had fallen into disrepair after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The Fort Field was rented in 1823 and included an adjacent area previously farmed in narrow strips at right angles to the seashore. The Cricket Club prospered initially, hit hard times in the 1840s before reviving from the 1850s onwards, and established itself as a major force in the region. A substantial pavilion with a thatched roof was built in 1879.

The Lawn Tennis Club came into existence in 1881 with the construction of an asphalt court alongside some grass courts. From the turn of the century onwards prestigious regional tennis tournaments were held and a number of temporary grass courts were laid on the ground, including part of the cricket field, for the duration of each tournament.

In 1907 the Croquet Club was formed and croquet was played on a single lawn to the east of the pavilion. The three-sport club prospered in the first half of the C20th although the croquet section remained small. In 1935, Col. Balfour, who owned the estate of which the Fort Field was a part, agreed to sell the ground for £5000. A Trust was set up and subscribers raised the sum to purchase the freehold. An additional storey was added to the pavilion in 1937.

Over an extended period both before and after WW 2 the cricket section increased the number of fixtures played against touring teams from different parts of the country and from abroad, the tennis section continued to play mainly on grass courts while croquet continued to operate on a single lawn. However, from the late 1960s onwards, croquet extended its membership and by the 1980s the requirement for additional croquet lawns was pressing. Three tennis courts to the west of the pavilion were converted from grass to all-weather and a few grass tennis courts on the east side of the Fort Field were converted over time to croquet lawns. From the millennium onwards tennis became stronger and membership increased. Floodlights were erected for evening play, the all-weather courts were re-laid, competitive league tennis was increased and, with specialist coaching, the junior section prospered.

Meanwhile, croquet membership consolidated at over a hundred and twenty, more matches against other clubs were played, and additional tournaments were arranged at both regional and national levels on the club’s four lawns. From 2000 onwards, the league-playing success of the cricket section at all levels surpassed anything that had occurred previously, and colts cricket became strong. A hockey section, which had taken full membership of the club after WW2, decided not to continue its direct links when it merged with the Ottery St Mary Hockey Club in 2014. However, its male and female teams still use the club’s catering and bar facilities after Saturday league games in the winter season.

Neil Gamble, 10th August 2018