OUR EARLY HISTORY

In 1895 Owen Peel Wethered personally purchased 5,803 acres of land between Pound Lane and the river for £1,500. He then leased it to Marlow Cricket Club at a rent of £20p.a. for 21 years, as a gesture of goodwill. A pavilion was built and a 6 foot fence on three sides.

After WW1 Marlow struggled to find players and briefly folded in 1920. Owen Peel had died in 1908 and at the end of the lease period, the executors later decided to put the land up for sale asking £1,200.

In July 1920 a petition from the staff requested the Wethered directors to purchase it as a recreation club. Within two weeks the directors agreed and suggested that the organisation be put into the hands of a committee of the employees for two years. The company spent £300 on upgrading the pavilion and installing gas. There was also a bowling green for use by employees.

The brewery cricket team, formed in 1905 at the George and Dragon, could continue to play home fixtures in Pound Lane, rather than their previous arrangement with Marlow Cricket Club. In 1926 it was agreed to employ a groundsman.

Post WW2 in 1949 the original Marlow Sports Club (MSC) was founded at the ground and Wethereds was sold to Strong & Co the same year. Strong & Co was acquired by Whitbread in 1969 and the ground continued to be leased to MSC when, in 2006, MSC were notified that Whitbreads had decided that the site was to be auctioned off, potentially for new housing.

MSC fought a 5 year battle to secure ownership of the site and keep the sports in Marlow. This was achieved in March 2011 when MSC became a charity and secured loans and investments of over £1M to buy the existing grounds plus additional land to build an all-weather hockey pitch.