Ellesmere Bowling Club starts fundraising as green turns 325

The club has been going since 1956, but the bowling green has been going since 1698, member Gerard Brooke-Bennett said

A bowling club says it is fundraising for improvements as its green turns 325 years old.

Ellesmere Bowling Club in Shropshire said it was "quite some going" for the green to have lasted several centuries and remain playable for local people.

New floodlights and an irrigation system were needed to maintain it for future generations, member Gerard Brooke-Bennett said.

Events are to be held to try to raise the several thousands pounds required.

Mr Brooke-Bennett said the green was the old motte of Ellesmere Castle which dated back to 1177.

The castle is said to be a good example of a "motte and bailey" type, which was the earliest type of earth and timber castles constructed by the Norman aristocracy.

The land had been owned by local nobility through the Bridgewater Estate and "for whatever reason in 1698 they decided to set up a bowling club on this green", Mr Brooke-Bennett said.

He added: "It was used periodically here. They had a small pavilion erected and then in 1736 they had a new clubhouse built at the cost of £39, 13 shillings and sixpence."

Mr Brooke-Bennett said members saw themselves as custodians of the club

In 1956, Lord Brownlow, who at the time presided over the estate, decided to divest himself of various properties, donating some land to the council and selling the green for £350, Mr Brooke-Bennett explained.

He said: "That then allowed the local people of Ellesmere to create a members club which is still running today as we now know it - as Ellesmere Bowling Club.

"The club itself has been going since 1956 but the bowling green has been going since 1698."

The greenkeeper "worked like a trojan" to maintain the ground, Mr Brooke-Bennett said

Although the greenkeeper "worked like a trojan" to maintain the ground, the club wanted to raise money to pay for new floodlighting and an irrigation system for the bottom green.

"At the moment it's totally manual... the work doesn't get any easier," Mr Brooke-Bennett said.

He added: "We look at it as we're custodians of the club. We look after the club, make it better and protect it for the future generations to come through."