Cricket
Ground
The
Lodge
Stable
Lawn
Church/ School
Crunnells Lane
Piggots
Farm
Flowers and
shrubs
Kiln Wood
Temple Dinsley
To Preston
To Hitchwood
Cottages
Reproduction of a sketch map of Preston (1884) showing the position of the cricket ground
The earliest specific reference to cricket at Preston is a sketch map dated 1884 which shows the pitch in the grounds of Temple Dinsley. It was said that a marquee was erected near to the horse chestnut trees which framed the drive to St Albans Highway.
Probably the matches were somewhat sporadic events and were not arranged during haymaking and harvesting.
D. Frost in his Attempt at the History of Preston Cricket Club states, ‘it would seem ... that the team would largely consist of either sons, guests or friends from the Estate, with the addition of one or two Estate workers and one or two independents from the village’.
He noted that there would have been little time for farm workers to play as their time was fully occupied during the summer months. Included in the team must have been Geoffrey and Ralston Pryor who were the sons of the estate’s owner from 1873, Henry Pryor. They were the driving force behind the reformation of the cricket team after World War I. Geoffrey (pictured right), a fast bowler, was still playing cricket in 1923.
By then, the cricket ground had been transferred to its present site which had been part of Brown’s farm. On his death, ownership of the farm had passed to the Temple Dinsley estate and the new owner, D Vickers, allowed this venue to be used for cricket.
(Note: There are references to Preston Cricket Club in the twentieth century on the pages relating to my father, Sam Wray, and his siblings, Frank and Maggie.. Links: Sam Wray, Bob Wray, Maggie Whitby.
To Hitchin
