Interesting Fact
Britain's oldest Bowling Green (over 400 years old), still in use to day, is located at the Falcon Inn in Painswick.
The flat green in Painswick, was built in the 16th century at the back of the then newly built Falcon Inn. It was originally used for gentlemen to wind down after a day of hunting in the nearby Cotswold countryside.
The lord of the manor who built it also had a cock fighting pit erected by its side.
The Falcon Club, which now uses the green, dates back to the early 20th century.
Members have included Tony Allcock, the 14 times world champion turned chief executive of the English Bowling Association.
The sport can be traced back to the 13th century when it was known as the "casting of stones" but reached the height of its popularity in Elizabethan times.
Sir Francis Drake famously refused to launch his attack on the Spanish Armada until he had finished a game of bowls in Plymouth.
He was said to have remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards.
Such was the game's popularity that laws were brought in to forbid the peasantry from playing, for fear that it would detract from other sports, such as archery, thought important for battle.
Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, with the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow fell into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued.
Bowling greens also became synonymous with vice, with many situated next to brothels. Only those with land worth more than £100 could obtain licences to build their own greens. |
