Cricket has been played at The Park, Stourhead from at least the 1880s. There was an active team in Stourton in the 1920s and a successful team in the 1930s (we have several scorebooks from this time) and photos from the 1880s and 1920s. We have no information about what happened in the 1940s and assume that the club may have folded for a few years at this time.
Stourton Cricket Club, c.1910. Joseph Parsons, Captain, middle row centre in hat with band.
The cricket square used today was laid in 1930s by one of the Hoare family – London bankers and owners of Stourhead Estate – which was passed to National Trust in 1940s.
The Cricket Club was resurrected in 1948-50 in Kilmington with a concrete and matting wicket but after several years interest declined. After this time games were played intermittently on the lawns at Stourhead House. In 1972 the club restarted again playing in the village of Kilmington. After a short while they were able to get the use of the cricket square in The Park at Stourhead where cricket is still played today.
In early 1980s a group of club stalwarts improved the playing area and fixture list. At this time the square was fenced off from cattle grazing on the outfield by an electric fence and the outfield was not mown. Gang mowers were purchased around 1983 and an outfield regularly cut thereafter with the electric fence now extended to include the outfield as well as the square.
Friendly matches were played in 1980-90s were against teams such as The Deverills CC, Horningsham CC, Dorset Wanderers CC, West Wilts Nomads, and various touring teams. The 1990s saw several major changes as KSCC entered a league for the first time, playing in the Dorset Sunday League. KSCC played 2ndDivision for several years but were promoted to Div 1 in 2000. In the same year a side was entered into the Somerset League for the first time beginning in Div 6. KSCC made steady progress through the Divisions of the Somerset League winning Division 6 in their first season and Division 5 three years later. After 4 years in Division 4 the 1st XI achieved 3 successive promotions in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to reach the 1st Division of the Somerset League to coincide with cricket being played on The Park, Stourhead for 40 consecutive years. After 5seasons in Division 1 the team broke up as players moved away to work etc. and KSCC requested a drop to Division 4 (currently Div 3). The 1st XI won Div 3 in 2022 and will play in Div 2 in 2023.
The club currently runs 3 Saturday teams in the Somerset League, a Women and Girls softball team, U19s and U15s. We work closely with Mere CC (just 3 miles to the east) who run U9s and U11s along with All Stars and we hope to begin an U13 XI in the near future. Over the past 2 decades the facilities have been continuously upgraded and the club now hosts Dorset county age group matches and Somerset Seniors cricket.
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