White Conduit Fields
Encyclopedia
White Conduit Fields in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

 was an early venue of major cricket matches and the original home of the White Conduit Club
White Conduit Club
The White Conduit Club, although short-lived, was perhaps the most significant club in cricket history for it bridged the gulf between the rural and rustic Hambledon era and the new, modern and metropolitan era of MCC and Lord's, the two entities that it spawned.We do not know for certain when the...

, forerunner of MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

. It was adjacent to White Conduit House, which was immediately south of the modern junction between Dewey Street and Barnsbury Road.

Early matches

The earliest match known to have been played at White Conduit Fields was the controversial encounter on 1 September 1718 between London Cricket Club
London Cricket Club
The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...

 and the so-called Rochester Punch Club. This game provoked a legal case when the Rochester players walked off in an attempt to save their stake money, London clearly winning at the time. The case focused on the terms of the wager rather than the rules of the sport and the judge ordered the game to be played out. It was concluded in July 1719 and London won by 21 runs .

White Conduit Club

White Conduit was used for a few more years until the London cricketers began to use Kennington Common and the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...

. The venue then fell into disuse for many years until the formation of the White Conduit Club around 1780. After the WCC members, through the offices of Thomas Lord
Thomas Lord
Thomas Lord was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances in first-class cricket...

, moved to the new Lord's ground at Marylebone in 1787, White Conduit Fields was abandoned.

Urban development

The venue has long since disappeared under the spread of urban development but it was long supposed to have been in the vicinity of King's Cross railway station. Some recent (2005) research has attempted to discover its whereabouts and concluded that the site was bounded by the modern streets of Cloudesley Road to the north, Barnsbury Road to the west, Tolpuddle Street to the south and probably as far as Liverpool Road to the east . The Regent's canal was cut through the land in the years after 1810 and passed almost directly under White Conduit House.

External links

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