The cricket club was formed in the some time in the nineteenth century, although the exact date is uncertain, although word of mouth has suggested the club was formed in 1844. However others have suggested that the new pavillion in 1988 coincided with the club’s centenary, and we may never know the true date.
It is however, reasonably certain that the cricket ground was formed by the local miners. In the nineteenth century, mining was the major industry of the area. Gunnislake Clitters and Drakewalls mines were the most important mines in the immediate area, and the ground is across the Tamar from Devon Great Consuls, once the largest copper mine in the world. It is common belief that the miners levelled what was a spoil heap to form the cricket ground. Timber faggots were laid as a base for the square to assist with drainage. These were covered with soil and then turf was imported from foreign parts – Dartmoor to be precise, to form the square. Over the years, evidence of the mine waste has appeared in the outfield, in the form of large boulders, with just their tips breaking through the surface of the grass.
The first photograph of the club dates from 1903 and this is shown below, along with several others from over the years. long-standing club member, Mike Hugo is researching and writing the club history, so we hope to provide further information in due course.
