Dandelion Paddock
Encyclopedia
Dandelion Paddock was a first-class cricket
ground in Dandelion, near Margate
, Kent
. Sir Horatio Mann
organised a number of matches there in the 1790s.
for many years until his death in 1806. The only remaining edifice is a 15th century gatehouse .
The earliest known match at Dandelion Paddock was in September 1789 when Mann's East Kent XI played a team from the Isle of Thanet. In September 1795, it became a first-class venue when Mann staged three successive matches featuring his own XI. Two further games took place in 1796 .
There was one later use for a minor match on 15 September 1806 when Lord Frederick Beauclerk
's XI defeated Edward Bligh
's XI by 53 runs . This match was staged two days after Fox's death.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
ground in Dandelion, near Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Sir Horatio Mann
Sir Horatio Mann
Sir Horatio Mann, 2nd Baronet was an English MP. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricket. He was an occasional player but rarely in first-class matches....
organised a number of matches there in the 1790s.
Location
The paddock was sited in the grounds of Dent de Lion (aka Dandelion), which is about a mile and a half southwest of Margate . The estate was established around a former manor house in the 12th or 13th century by the family of Dent de Lyon. It was owned by Charles James FoxCharles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
for many years until his death in 1806. The only remaining edifice is a 15th century gatehouse .
Matches
The grounds had been converted into a resort and tea garden by the time cricket matches were held there and had become very popular with residents of Margate and nearby Ramsgate .The earliest known match at Dandelion Paddock was in September 1789 when Mann's East Kent XI played a team from the Isle of Thanet. In September 1795, it became a first-class venue when Mann staged three successive matches featuring his own XI. Two further games took place in 1796 .
There was one later use for a minor match on 15 September 1806 when Lord Frederick Beauclerk
Lord Frederick Beauclerk
Lord Frederick Beauclerk was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer for 35 years from 1791 to 1825. On his retirement, he served as president of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1826.Beauclerk was the fourth son of the 5th Duke of St Albans and became a clergyman. He was Vicar...
's XI defeated Edward Bligh
Edward Bligh
Edward Bligh , styled The Honourable from birth, was an Irish politician, a noted amateur cricketer and a prominent early member of the Marylebone Cricket Club....
's XI by 53 runs . This match was staged two days after Fox's death.