A brief history of Goxhill Bowling Club
Lawn bowling in Goxhill has its origins when a club was founded around about 1935. As the club’s original name - Goxhill Memorial Hall Bowling Club - implied, it played on an undersized green of 3 rinks situated adjacent to the village’s Memorial Hall, itself built in memory to those who lost their lives during the First World War. Initially it was part of the all round effort to offer a range of sports and pastimes to the working people of Goxhill through the facilities owned by the Goxhill Memorial Hall Trust.
Like many activities, bowling in Goxhill was suspended for the duration of the Second World War and restarted in 1945. Our late Club President, Maurice Broughton, joined Goxhill’s bowlers the following year at the age of 14. At that time annual membership of the Memorial Hall cost half a crown (12½p for those too young to remember £sd).
After the war numerous lorry loads of ash and clinker from Scunthorpe Steelworks were delivered to a paddock off Manor Lane, land that was owned by a local lawn bowler. This would provide drainage at the base of a new full-size bowling green. Eventually, once the green was considered fit for use, the village’s lawn bowlers moved there, although the exact date is unclear.
In 1952 the bowling green site on Manor Lane was purchased with funds raised by the Goxhill Memorial Hall Institute Management Committee to secure it in perpetuity for sport and recreation in the village.
The map forming part of the legal conveyance already identified the bowling green in its present position so it was almost certainly already in use as a bowling green before the land was transferred.
Although by then a separate Club with its own membership, we believe the name Goxhill Memorial Hall Bowling Club was retained as acknowledgement of the continuing relationship with the Goxhill Memorial Hall Trust as its 'landlord'.
A wooden pavilion was erected to provide a place to gather and store their equipment - it has been repaired a lot over the years but is still used today for storage. Over the years the Club’s members have maintained and developed the green and facilities to the standard we see today. Working with the Goxhill Memorial Hall charity, grant funding was obtained by the Club to provide a brick built pavilion to replace its wooden predecessor, which was retained for storage alone (and remains in use today). The Club is indeed lucky to benefit from having a charity as its ‘landlord’ rather than relying on municipal facilities as many other Clubs do.
Goxhill Bowling Club has itself developed over time, becoming first a Community Amateur Sports Club before subsequently converting to its current status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registered charity number 1195169) in 2021.
The bowling green is discreetly tucked away on Manor Lane, which is one of several lanes that connect Ferry Road and North End. It is not the case that the bowling green has been hidden away deliberately, of course; there is a sign post on Ferry Road directing visitors to turn. Then a few hundred metres (or yards if you prefer) along Manor Lane you will find Goxhill Bowling Club’s splendid green, complete with a fine pavilion and plenty of parking for both members and visitors to the club.
The bowling green normally comprises six rinks (lanes to bowl on, in layman's parlance) although seven could be set if absolutely necessary. Thanks to the dedication and experience of the club’s Green Committee, the Club's green is widely acknowledged as being amongst the best in North Lincolnshire and the surrounding area.
Like many activities, bowling in Goxhill was suspended for the duration of the Second World War and restarted in 1945. Our late Club President, Maurice Broughton, joined Goxhill’s bowlers the following year at the age of 14. At that time annual membership of the Memorial Hall cost half a crown (12½p for those too young to remember £sd).
After the war numerous lorry loads of ash and clinker from Scunthorpe Steelworks were delivered to a paddock off Manor Lane, land that was owned by a local lawn bowler. This would provide drainage at the base of a new full-size bowling green. Eventually, once the green was considered fit for use, the village’s lawn bowlers moved there, although the exact date is unclear.
In 1952 the bowling green site on Manor Lane was purchased with funds raised by the Goxhill Memorial Hall Institute Management Committee to secure it in perpetuity for sport and recreation in the village.
The map forming part of the legal conveyance already identified the bowling green in its present position so it was almost certainly already in use as a bowling green before the land was transferred.
Although by then a separate Club with its own membership, we believe the name Goxhill Memorial Hall Bowling Club was retained as acknowledgement of the continuing relationship with the Goxhill Memorial Hall Trust as its 'landlord'.
A wooden pavilion was erected to provide a place to gather and store their equipment - it has been repaired a lot over the years but is still used today for storage. Over the years the Club’s members have maintained and developed the green and facilities to the standard we see today. Working with the Goxhill Memorial Hall charity, grant funding was obtained by the Club to provide a brick built pavilion to replace its wooden predecessor, which was retained for storage alone (and remains in use today). The Club is indeed lucky to benefit from having a charity as its ‘landlord’ rather than relying on municipal facilities as many other Clubs do.
Goxhill Bowling Club has itself developed over time, becoming first a Community Amateur Sports Club before subsequently converting to its current status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (registered charity number 1195169) in 2021.
The bowling green is discreetly tucked away on Manor Lane, which is one of several lanes that connect Ferry Road and North End. It is not the case that the bowling green has been hidden away deliberately, of course; there is a sign post on Ferry Road directing visitors to turn. Then a few hundred metres (or yards if you prefer) along Manor Lane you will find Goxhill Bowling Club’s splendid green, complete with a fine pavilion and plenty of parking for both members and visitors to the club.
The bowling green normally comprises six rinks (lanes to bowl on, in layman's parlance) although seven could be set if absolutely necessary. Thanks to the dedication and experience of the club’s Green Committee, the Club's green is widely acknowledged as being amongst the best in North Lincolnshire and the surrounding area.