Crookesmoor Racecourse

[dunsbyowl1867]

Below the Fulwood Road the Crookesmoor Racecourse existed between 1711 and 1781. Any further information?

[Bayleaf]

Below the Fulwood Road the Crookesmoor Racecourse existed between 1711 and 1781. Any further information?

Here goes!

The plan is from 'Crookesmoor Racecourse' a pamphlet by Grahame Hague, in the Local Studies Library, which includes the following details:

The course was one and a third miles long, and was a rough track wide enough for about 5 horses, with small bridges to cross streams. Races were run on 3 consecutive days a year in late May.

The course closed as the land came under the enclosure of Crookes Moor, and as seems to have been traditional, was celebrated by the townspeople with a riot!

[ceegee]

Hello Dunsbyowl

There is a article on the racecourse at Crookesmoor at

http://www.chrishobbs.com/sheffield/crookesraces.htm

According to James Wills 1827 it was

""A noble racecourse, formed of hill and dale,

Grandstand and starting post fenced round with rail"

[ceegee]

There was a large booklet published a few years ago by a Stephen Johnson/Johnstone? if my memory serves me. It was a very detailed account of the history of Horse Racing in Sheffield. and is well worth a read. It may well have been a self published book and may be difficult to obtain though

[Guest Gramps]

Below the Fulwood Road the Crookesmoor Racecourse existed between 1711 and 1781. Any further information?

Two notes in Leader's 18th. Century Sheffield.

"The same body (Town Trustees) went to some expense to get horses to the races at Crookes Moor-where is now Fulwood Road; and the subscriptions of the wealthier inhabitants were suffciently liberal to justify the erection of a grand stand, whose memory is perpetuated in "Stand House." The first reference to these races is in 1711. They were discontinued in 1781; and in 1790 the race stand was taken down, and "the produce divided among the original subscribers to its erection."

"Mr. Henry John Beardshaw who still lives in his father's house at the corner of Northumberland Road and Western Bank ("Western Hill," formerly called - The Racecourse Nook, Crookesmoore),"

[dunsbyowl1867]

I came across this reference which may be of interest?

"The Company of Cutlers is also the proud owner of the only known surviving Sheffield Race Cups which were presented to the winners of the horse races held on Crookes Moor in 1777, 1779 and 1781 - the last year in which the races were held."

[madannie77]

There was a large booklet published a few years ago by a Stephen Johnson/Johnstone? if my memory serves me. It was a very detailed account of the history of Horse Racing in Sheffield. and is well worth a read. It may well have been a self published book and may be difficult to obtain though

It is by Stephen Johnson, and the book title is "Racing Times in Sheffield", published by the author in 2002, ISBN 978-0951935149.

[RichardB]

I assume there are none to be had by interested parties ?

It is by Stephen Johnson, and the book title is "Racing Times in Sheffield", published by the author in 2002, ISBN 978-0951935149.

[Guest bullerboy]

There were five racecourses in Sheffield.

[sando]

There were five racecourses in Sheffield.

All at the same time?

[Ponytail]

[St Annington]

On 09/12/2011 at 22:06, RichardB said:

I assume there are none to be had by interested parties ?

 

 

Sheffield Library service hold 7 copies. https://library.sheffield.gov.uk/client/en_GB/default/search/results?qu=horse+racing&te=ILS 

[Edmund]

After the closure of the Crookesmoor racecourse, there was informal horse and pony racing, for example at agricultural shows. Organised racing included the following:

Hyde Park - Pony races were organised by Mr Wright and Mr Hazlehurst who had set up the racecourse, which included a rudimentary grandstand, ensuring that every spectator could view the entire race. The opening meeting was held on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th October 1826 when the card included Silver Tankard races and Saddle and Bridle races each day. The meeting was held again in October 1827, and again on 12th & 13th April 1830.

Newhall Grounds (Attercliffe) racecourse. In October 1854 for the second race meeting there, the course was newly fenced and several additions made. The races, over two days, included: The Hunter's Cup (hurdle), The Sheffield Stakes, The Brightside Stakes, The Don Stakes, The Newhall Stakes and The Selling Stakes. The next meeting was in Christmas week the same year, but only on one day due to the weather, and three races were run. The course wasn't licensed and this may be the reason that it switched to dog and foot racing from the early 1860's. The premises closed in 1887.

Stannington, Hall Broom Pastures - The first meetings under Newmarket rules were held by the Stannington and Loxley Race Committee here on 12th April 1865, then on 25th April 1866.  For the following year, the S&L Committee amalgamated with the Sheffield organisation and for one year only the meeting was moved to Lords Seat near Redmires (west of the current dams) for the races on 15th April 1867, and it's difficult to think of a more remote location.

Annual meetings licensed under Newmarket rules were then dormant for five year until a meeting at Blackburn Meadows on 18th September 1872 with 30,000 spectators. Race meetings were held on two subsequent years - 16th September 1873, and 24th/25th September 1874.

The next site to be developed (during 1875) was at Redmires, opposite the Three Merry Lads, remote but not as far as the Lord's Seat course. The Sheffield Racing Company Ltd developed the Redmires course to a professional standard. The new course lasted for just 3 years. The first meeting was on 30th/31st August 1875, the second was on 3rd April 1876 and then the final meeting took place on 4th April 1877. The course consisted of almost 100 acres opposite the Three Merry Lads, and cost £15,000 to build. There was stabling for 40 horses, accommodation for the jockeys and a grandstand. The course was abandoned after three years because of poor attendances, due to its remote location. In February 1879 the company agreed a seven year lease of the Newhall Gardens site but only ever staged rabbit coursing there.

At Owlerton Speedway Stadium Pony Racing on the cinders was an attraction from 1929 in September 1930 sixty horses participated in five races at the Speedway Stadium. The newly formed Sheffield Horse and Pony Racing Association held trotting and galloping races at the Sheffield Forge Sports Ground (opposite the speedway) with a half mile lap, on 20th August 1932. Larry II belonging to the black champion boxer Larry Gains, came second but broke a fetlock after passing the winning post and had to be destroyed, the third of Gains' horses to suffer that fate. Larry II had previously been known as Cleo when competing at previous races held at Owlerton speedway circuit. Greyhound racing however was the main purpose of the stadium.