Our History
Burgess Hill Bowls Club — over 130 years at the heart of the community.
- Year
1895
First Bowls Played in Burgess Hill
According to the local press, the first bowls match in Burgess Hill is played this year, on a green on the town lawns behind the Top House public house.
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The earliest recorded fixtures were against the Ditching, Plumpton and Cooksbridge clubs — none of which still exist today. The earliest AGM on record was held at the Burgess Hill Inn (now the Top House) on 12 May 1896.
- Year
1902
The Present Club is Founded
A dozen men each agree to pay half a guinea for a year's subscription, and the present Burgess Hill Bowls Club is formed.
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The club's own history draws this distinction itself: bowls had already been played in the town for several years (see 1895, above) before the present club was formally established. Dress on the green in those early days was boots with suit trousers, waistcoats, ties and hats.
- Year
1907
First Floodlit Green in Sussex
The green behind the Top House becomes the first bowls green in Sussex to have floodlights.
- Year
1917
Move to the Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
The club pays the princely sum of £2 to move to a new home at the Burgess Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, on what is now the Waitrose car park.
- Year
1929
Move to Westhill Drive
After 12 years at the Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the club moves to its third and current home off Royal George Road. Through the generosity of the Chapman family, who own the Burgess Hill steam laundry, Percy Chapman lays the green and builds a small pavilion on the site in memory of his father.
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The land later passes to the Urban District Council. Historical maps confirm the club's continuous presence at this Royal George Road location from this point on — including maps from 1939, 1955, 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1974.
- Year
1932
Pavilion Completed
The Council helps finish the pavilion Percy Chapman started, giving the club an attractive pavilion on the green.
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This pavilion goes on to serve the club for over 60 years. By the 1990s it has rotting structural timbers and is considered totally inadequate for the growing membership, prompting the fundraising campaign that eventually delivers the 1999 clubhouse (see below).
- Year
1974
Passes to Mid Sussex District Council
Ownership of the facility passes to the newly formed Mid Sussex District Council.
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This followed the wider 1974 local government reorganisation, which replaced the former Burgess Hill Urban District Council.
- Year
1976
Members Take on the Pavilion
With the pavilion in danger of collapse, responsibility for the site reverses: the Council takes on maintaining the green — fully renovating it in 1983 — while members take on restoring and enlarging the pavilion.
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The club also funds extensive irrigation works for the green in 1990, on top of the Council's 1983 renovation.
- Year
1981
Rowland Extension
Sponsorship from the then club President, Edward Rowland — after whom the Edward and Gladys Rowland Cup is named — funds a new structure housing changing rooms and toilets for 100 members.
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Edward Rowland served as club President from 1976 to 1983. The new brick structure is a significant upgrade on the original 1932 pavilion, and is one of the clearest direct links between the club and the Rowland family the Cup is named after.
- Year
1994
Freehold Purchased
Concerns over security of tenure in the early 1990s lead the club to negotiate, and eventually purchase, the freehold of the green from the Council.
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Buying the green — together with legal charges and essential plant and equipment — costs around £30,000 in total. The club also erects a new concrete building this year to house the green-keeper's plant and stores. By this point membership has grown to around 150 playing members plus 60 non-playing social members, ranging in age from 12 to 85.
- Year
1999
New Clubhouse Opens
Funds raised by members pay for a new clubhouse, officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex on 23 June — cementing the club's long-term future at Westhill Drive.
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An initial 1996 fundraising appeal had aimed for the new clubhouse to open in April 1997, but the project ultimately took until 1999 to complete. It was officially opened by Major General Sir Philip Ward KCVO CBE, Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex.
- Year
2002
The Club Celebrates its Centenary
One hundred years after its founding, the club marks its centenary with a special celebration. Every member receives a commemorative enamel pin, and a "First 100 Years" leaflet is produced telling the club's story.
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The leaflet ends with a challenge that still stands: "It is now up to all the members to carry on the good work and to carry the Club forward for the next 100 years." See the pin and leaflet in the Centenary section below.
In Pictures
Ordnance Survey maps
Maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (opens in new tab).
The pavilion, before the 1999 clubhouse
Centenary, 2002
Read the leaflet
First 100 Years
When a dozen men agreed to pay half a guinea for a year's subscription to start the Burgess Hill Bowls Club in 1902, it is doubtful if any of them thought it would be still going one hundred years later. In those 100 years the Club has had three homes. The first was behind what is now the Top House public house on town lawns and had floodlights (bet that surprises you). The dress was boots with suit trousers, waistcoats, ties and hats. In 1917 the Club moved onto the site of the Burgess Hill Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (now Waitrose car park).
In the early days, travelling was not easy and some of the first clubs played were Ditchling, Plumpton and Cooksbridge (all now long gone). Then, in 1929, through the generosity of the Chapman family who owned the Burgess Hill steam laundry, Percy Chapman laid the green and built a small pavilion in memory of his father on the present site.
From the beginning and right up to the time a bar was introduced, the Club was always fighting for funds to keep its head above water. At times during the course of a season, when urgent repairs were needed, it became standard practice for the committee to pass the hat around or for one member to offer to pay. Some treasurers were afraid to keep too much money in the bank just in case the landlord at that time would put up the rent. The bar helped to provide the Club with extra funds, and this, along with members' loans and grants, enabled the building of changing rooms in 1981, the purchase of the green in 1994, and then in 1999, the building of the new pavilion we have today.
Over the years the Club has played host to thousands of visitors. Nearly all were welcome, with the exception of a swarm of bees that flew across the green during a match, and a parachutist who should have landed on Fairfield Recreation Ground for the Goose Fair deciding to drop in on the green instead (he made a big impression).
Through the years there have been many members who have given the time and effort to improve the Club and to name them all would need another book. We salute those still with us and to those who have passed on, we thank you.
It is now up to all the members to carry on the good work and to carry the Club forward for the next 100 years.
Today
Today, Burgess Hill Bowls Club has over 150 members, plays around 100 friendly matches a year against some 50 local clubs, fields teams in four local leagues and two knockout cups, and has members representing the club in many county, national and invitation games. The club continues to host the Edward and Gladys Rowland Cup — one of Sussex's most prestigious inter-club competitions — and remains a thriving hub for both competitive and social bowls in the heart of West Sussex.
Affiliated to Bowls England, the Sussex County Bowling Association, and the Mid Sussex Bowling League, the club punches well above its weight in county competitions and takes pride in welcoming new members at all levels of experience.