On The World's Oldest Bowling Green - British Pathé British Pathé This video has no sound Description Item title reads: "On the World's oldest bowling green (AD 1299). Sir John Russell installs "Sir" W. Day, 1927's winner over 350 year old competition for honour of knighthood of the Green." Southampton M/S bowlers, wearing dark jackets and white flannel trousers, some carrying umbrellas, some smoking pipes. They line up on the bowling green watched by onlookers. Officials in black suits with top hats and medallions, hanging round their necks, stand in line with Sir W. Day seated. He bows his head to be presented with a medal. The crowd cheer. Men in top hats wave their hats in a three cheer salute. The History of Lawn Bowls The History of Lawn Bowls THE HISTORY OF LAWN BOWLS It has been traced certainly to the 13th century, and conjecturally to the 12th. William Fitzstephen (d.

about 1190), in his biography of Thomas Becket, gives a graphic sketch of the London of his day and, writing of the summer amusements of the young men, says that on holidays they were "exercised in Leaping, Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark; they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men." It is commonly supposed that by jactus lapidum, Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the game - and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later date, on festive occasions at Nairn, - nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted. The jactus lapidum of which he speaks was probably more akin to the modern "putting the weight," once even called "putting the stone." It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played in the 13th century.

A manuscript of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No. 20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, which was first used in 1299. Another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game. Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl. A 14th century manuscript, Book of Prayers, in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian library at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown, but they bowl to no mark.

Strutt (Sports and Pastimes) suggests that the first player's bowl may have been regarded by the second player as a species of jack; but in that case it is not clear what was the first player's target. In these three earliest illustrations of the pastime it is worth noting that each player has one bowl only, and that the attitude in delivering it was as various five or six hundred years ago as it is to-day. In the third he stands almost upright; in the first he kneels; in the second he stoops, halfway between the upright and the kneeling position. As the game grew in popularity, it came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued.

The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters. The word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541 - which was not repealed until 1845 - artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas, and then only in their master's house and presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those possessed of lands of the yearly value of £100 might obtain licenses to play on their own private greens. In 1864 William Wallace Mitchell (1803-1884), a Glasgow Cotton Merchant, published his "Manual of Bowls Playing" following his work as the secretary formed in 1849 by Scottish bowling clubs which became the basis of the rules of the modern game.

Young Mitchell was only 11 when he played on Kilmarnock Bowling green, the oldest club in Scotland, instituted in 1740. The Scottish Bowling Association was the very first one to be established in 1892, although there had been a failed attempt in 1848 by 200 Scottish clubs. Today the club is played in over 40 countries with more 50 member national authorities. The home of the modern game is still Scotland with the World Bowls centre in Edinburgh at Caledonia House,1 Redheughs Rigg, South Gyle, Edinburgh, Southampton (Old) Bowling Green, Southampton The Story of Southampton (Old) Bowling Green The Southampton (Old) Bowling Green is the oldest bowling green in the world. It was old even when Sir Francis Drake, the inspiration of romance and adventure to the boys of many generations, is reputed to have played the famous game on Plymouth Hoe in July 1588, before he sailed to meet the Spanish Armada. This Old Green was in existence when Edward I was on the throne. The first surviving mention of this was in the year 1299.

Records shows that bowls, an ancient game, was played here even on this date. The Green is situated in the oldest part of the ancient town, on a site which was originally a part of what was termed in mediaeval times the Saltmarsh. This comprised the land bounded on the South and East by the sea, on the North by Marsh Lane, and on the West by some gardens, which were known as “Three Fields", and belonged to the Warden of the Hospital. In the course of time this area of land was protected from the sea by a bank, but the repair of this was a constant source of feud. Moreover, there were many attempts at enclosures, and these led to frequent disputes until, finally, in 1503, when the authorities of God’s House laid claim to Saltmarsh and to several lands adjoining, the matter was referred to arbitration, and Saltmarsh was declared to be common land. The Green itself has been cared for since 1187, when the lawns were laid as a close for the Warden of God’s House Hospital. The “Domus Dei" infirmary was founded in that year by Gervaise Le Riche, a wealthy Anglo-Norman Merchant.

It is doubtful whether the game of bowls itself was played during the early years but it is thought that by 1220 a game using large wooden balls was occasionally played by Hospital officials and their guests. Documentary evidence confirms the close was regularly used as a Bowling Green in 1299 when a Master of the Close (Green)was appointed. Edward II, 1343, granted custody of God’s House with all its possessions to the newly founded Queen’s College, Oxford in whose care it has been ever since. In 1541, “Inferior people" were prohibited from playing of bowls at this time.

The Act under which the townsman was brought to book was passed in 1541, and under it “no manner of Artificer or Craftsman of any Handicraft or occupation, Husbandman, Apprentice, Labourer, Servant at Husbandry, Journeyman or Servant of Artificer, Mariners, Fishermen, Watermen or any Servingman" were allowed to play bowls out of Christmas under the pain of 20 shillings to be forfeit for every time; and in Christmas to play at any of the said games (others were prohibited) in their Master’s Houses or in their Master’s Presence. It was also decreed that “no manner of person shall at any time play at any Bowl or Bowls in open places out of his Garden or Orchard upon the pain for every time so offending to forfeit 6/8d". It was provided, however, that “every Nobleman and other having Manors, Lands, Tenements or other yearly profits for term of life in his own Right or in his Wife’s Right to the yearly value of a Hundred Pounds might play bowls without penalty within the Precinct of his or their Houses, Gardens or Orchards".

Magistrates were enjoined to visit places and alleys to ascertain whether forbidden games were secretly pursued, and to arrest and imprison players and keepers alike until they paid bail for their good behaviour. Mayors and other officials were required to search for all such places weekly, “or at the farthest at all times hereafter once every month", and there was a 40/- fine for every month of default. Truly, here is full and sound reason why the history of the “Old Green" was never fully recorded! The bowling green, it should here be mentioned, was distressing for at least one person. It is recorded in 1550, in which year a townsman, the lessee of the King’s Orchard, was presented for Keeping ‘common playinge with bowles, tab ylles and other unlawfull games agaynst the Kings statute’. The King’s Orchard, called in Elizabeth’s time the ‘Queen’s’, was close to this spot. The act which prohibited “inferior people" from playing at bowls and other games had been passed in 1541, and such persons were constantly being fined for infringing the statute.

The bowling green, was, in short, as described in 1637, and has continued to be, a ground “where many gentlemen, with the gentile merchants of this town, take their recreation". Southampton (Old) Bowling Green Bowls | G.P.C.A. SUNDAY History It has been traced certainly to the 13th century, and conjecturally to the 12th. William Fitzstephen (d.

about 1190), in his biography of Thomas Becket, gives a graphic sketch of the London of his day and, writing of the summer amusements of the young men, says that on holidays they were “exercised in Leaping, Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark; they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men.” It is commonly supposed that by jactus lapidum, Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the game – and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later date, on festive occasions at Nairn, – nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted. The jactus lapidum of which he speaks may have been more akin to shotput. It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played in the 13th century. A manuscript of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No.

20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world’s oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, which was first used in 1299. Another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game.[citation needed] Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player’s bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl. A 14th-century manuscript, Book of Prayers, in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown, but they bowl to no mark.

Strutt (Sports and Pastimes) suggests that the first player’s bowl may have been regarded by the second player as a species of jack; but in that case it is not clear what was the first player’s target. In these three earliest illustrations of the pastime it is worth noting that each player has one bowl only, and that the attitude in delivering it was as various five or six hundred years ago as it is to-day. In the third he stands almost upright; in the first he kneels; in the second he stoops, halfway between the upright and the kneeling position. The game eventually came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued. The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters.

The word “bowls” occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541—which was not repealed until 1845—artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas, and then only in their master’s house and presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d.(6 shillings and 8 pence), while those possessed of lands of the yearly value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens. In 1864 William Wallace Mitchell (1803–1884), a Glasgow Cotton Merchant, published his “Manual of Bowls Playing” following his work as the secretary formed in 1849 by Scottish bowling clubs which became the basis of the rules of the modern game. Young Mitchell was only 11 when he played on Kilmarnock Bowling green, the oldest club in Scotland, instituted in 1740.

The patenting of the first lawn mower in 1830, in Britain, is strongly believed to have been the catalyst, world-wide, for the preparation of modern-style greens, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, grass courts, etc. This is turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn bowls, most football codes, lawn tennis and others. British bowls team visiting Canada, 1906 National Bowling Associations were established in the late 1800s. In the then Victorian Colony (now State of Victoria in Australia), the (Royal) Victorian Bowling Association was formed in 1880 and The Scottish Bowling Association was established in 1892, although there had been a failed attempt in 1848 by 200 Scottish clubs. History of Bowls History of Bowls Bowls From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bowls (also lawn bowls, variants include flat-green bowls and crown-green bowls) is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty".

It is played on a pitch which may be flat (for "flat-green bowls") or convex or uneven (for "crown-green bowls"). It is normally played outdoors although there are some indoor venues and the surface is either natural grass, artificial turf , or cotula (in New Zealand ). It is popular in the United Kingdom , Australia , New Zealand , Canada , South Africa , Hong Kong and parts of the United States and more recently in Japan . It belongs to the boules game family and is related to bocce and pétanque . History It has been traced certainly to the 13th century, and conjecturally to the 12th. William Fitzstephen (d.

about 1190), in his biography of Thomas Becket , gives a graphic sketch of the London of his day and, writing of the summer amusements of the young men, says that on holidays they were "exercised in Leaping, Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark; they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men." It is commonly supposed that by jactus lapidum, Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the game - and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later date, on festive occasions at Nairn, - nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted. The jactus lapidum of which he speaks may have been more akin to shotput . It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played in the 13th century. A manuscript of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No.

20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green , which was first used in 1299. [1] Another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game.[ citation needed ] Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl. A 14th-century manuscript, Book of Prayers, in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown, but they bowl to no mark.

Strutt (Sports and Pastimes) suggests that the first player's bowl may have been regarded by the second player as a species of jack; but in that case it is not clear what was the first player's target. In these three earliest illustrations of the pastime it is worth noting that each player has one bowl only, and that the attitude in delivering it was as various five or six hundred years ago as it is to-day. In the third he stands almost upright; in the first he kneels; in the second he stoops, halfway between the upright and the kneeling position. As the game grew in popularity, it came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III , Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued.

The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters. The word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541—which was not repealed until 1845—artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas , and then only in their master's house and presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those possessed of lands of the yearly value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens. In 1864 William Wallace Mitchell (1803–1884), a Glasgow Cotton Merchant, published his "Manual of Bowls Playing" following his work as the secretary formed in 1849 by Scottish bowling clubs which became the basis of the rules of the modern game.

Young Mitchell was only 11 when he played on Kilmarnock Bowling green, the oldest club in Scotland, instituted in 1740. National Bowling Associations were established in the late 1800s. In the then Victorian Colony (now State of Victoria in Australia), the (Royal) Victorian Bowling Association was formed in 1880 and The Scottish Bowling Association was established in 1892, although there had been a failed attempt in 1848 by 200 Scottish clubs. Today the sport is played in over 40 countries with more than 50 member national authorities. The home of the modern game is still Scotland with the World Bowls centre in Edinburgh at Caledonia House,1 Redheughs Rigg, South Gyle, Edinburgh, EH12 9DQ. Game Lawn bowls is usually played on a large, rectangular, precisely levelled and manicured grass or synthetic surface known as a bowling green which is divided into parallel playing strips called rinks .

In the simplest competition, singles, one of the two opponents flips a coin to see who wins the "mat" and begins a segment of the competition (in bowling parlance, an "end"), by placing the mat and rolling the jack to the other end of the green to serve as a target. Once it has come to rest, the jack is aligned to the centre of the rink and the players take turns to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack and thereby build up the "head". A bowl may curve outside the rink boundary on its path, but must come to rest within the rink boundary to remain in play. Bowls falling into the ditch are dead and removed from play, except in the event when one has "touched" the jack on its way. "Touchers" are marked with chalk and remain alive in play even though they are in the ditch. Similarly if the jack is knocked into the ditch it is still alive unless it is out of bounds to the side resulting in a "dead" end which is replayed, though according to international rules the jack is "respotted" to the centre of the rink and the end is continued.

After each competitor has delivered all of their bowls (four each in singles and pairs, three each in triples, and two bowls each in fours), the distance of the closest bowls to the jack is determined (the jack may have been displaced) and points, called "shots", are awarded for each bowl which a competitor has closer than the opponent's nearest to the jack. For instance, if a competitor has bowled two bowls closer to the jack than their opponent's nearest, they are awarded two shots. The exercise is then repeated for the next end, a game of bowls typically being of twenty one ends. Lawn bowls is played on grass and variations from green to green are common. Greens come in all shapes and sizes, fast, slow, big crown, small crown and so on. Scoring Scoring systems vary from competition to competition. Games can be decided when: §a player in a singles game reaches a specified target number of shots (usually 21 or 25). §a team (pair, triple or four) has the higher score after a specified number of ends. Games to a specified number of ends may also be drawn. The draw may stand, or the opponents may be required to play an extra endto decide the winner.

These provisions are always published beforehand in the event's Conditions of Play. In the Laws of the Sport of Bowls [2] the winner in a singles game is the first player to score 21 shots. In all other disciplines (pairs, triples, fours) the winner is the team who has scored the most shots after 21/25 ends of play. Often local tournaments will play shorter games (often 10 or 12 ends). Some competitions use a "set" scoring system, with the first to seven points awarded a set in a best-or-three or best-of-five set match. As well as singles competition, there can be two (pairs), three (triples) and four-player (fours) teams. In these, teams bowl alternately, with each player within a team bowling all their bowls, then handing over to the next player. The team captain or "skip" always plays last and is instrumental in directing his team's shots and tactics. The current method of scoring in the professional tour ( World Bowls Tour ) is sets. Each set consists of nine ends and the player with the most shots at the end of a set wins the set. If the score is tied the set is halved.

If a player wins two sets, or gets a win and a tie, that player wins the game. If each player wins a set, or both sets end tied, there is a 3-end tiebreaker to determine a winner. Bias of Bowls Two bowls with club stickers. The jack/kitty is sitting in front of the bowls. Bowls are designed to travel a curved path because of a weight bias which was originally produced by inserting weights in one side of the bowl. This is no longer permitted by the rules and bias is now produced entirely by the shape of the bowl. A bowler determines the bias direction of the bowl in his hand by a dimple or symbol on one side. Regulations determine the minimum bias allowed, and the range of diameters (11.6 to 13.1 cm), but within these rules bowlers can and do choose bowls to suit their own preference. They were originally made from lignum vitae , a dense wood giving rise to the term "woods" for bowls, but are now more typically made of a hard plastic composite material. Bowls were once only available coloured black or brown but they are now available in a variety of colours. They have unique symbol markings engraved on them for identification.

Since many bowls look the same, coloured, adhesive stickers or labels are also used to mark the bowls of each team in bowls matches. Some local associations agree on specific colours for stickers for each of the clubs in their area. Provincial or national colours are often assigned in national and international competitions. These stickers are used by officials to distinguish teams. Bowls have symbols unique to the set of four for identification. The side of the bowl with a larger symbol within a circle indicates the side away from the bias. That side with a smaller symbol within a smaller circle is the bias side toward which the bowl will turn. It is not uncommon for players to deliver a "wrong bias" shot from time to time and see their carefully aimed bowl crossing neighbouring rinks rather than heading towards their jack. When bowling there are several types of delivery. "Draw" shots are those where the bowl is rolled to a specific location without causing too much disturbance of bowls already in the head. For a right-handed bowler, "forehand draw" or "finger peg" is initially aimed to the right of the jack, and curves in to the left.

The same bowler can deliver a "backhand draw" or "thumb peg" by turning the bowl over in his hand and curving it the opposite way, from left to right. In both cases, the bowl is rolled as close to the jack as possible, unless tactics demand otherwise. A "drive" or "fire" or "strike" involves bowling with force with the aim of knocking either the jack or a specific bowl out of play - and with the drive's speed, there is virtually no noticeable (or, at least, much less) curve on the shot. An "upshot" or "yard on" shot involves delivering the bowl with an extra degree of weight (often referred to as "controlled" weight or "rambler"), enough to displace the jack or disturb other bowls in the head without killing the end. A "block" shot is one that is intentionally placed short to defend from a drive or to stop an oppositions draw shot. The challenge in all these shots is to be able to adjust line and length accordingly, the faster the delivery, the narrower the line or "green".

Variations of play Particularly in team competition there can be a large number of bowls on the green towards the conclusion of the end, and this gives rise to complex tactics. Teams "holding shot" with the closest bowl will often make their subsequent shots not with the goal of placing the bowl near the jack, but in positions to make it difficult for opponents to get their bowls into the head, or to places where the jack might be deflected to if the opponent attempts to disturb the head. A crown green at Edgworth, Lancashire . There are many different ways to set up the game. Crown Green Bowling utilises the entire green. A player can send the jack anywhere on the green in this game and the green itself is more akin to a golf green, with lots of undulation. It is only played with two bowls each, the Jack also has a bias and is only slightly smaller than the Bowls. Crown Green Bowls is very popular mostly in the North of England but also in Wales, West Midlands and Shropshire. The game is played usually to 21-up in Singles and Doubles format with some competitions playing to 31-up.

The Panel (Professional Crown Green Bowls) is played at the Red Lion, Westhoughton daily and is played to 41-up with greenside betting throughout play. The game of Crown Green Bowls is looking to grow with the introduction of the Portuguese Masters in October[ when? ] and recent interest from Sky TV to re-televise the sport.[ citation needed ] Singles, triples and fours and Australian pairs are some ways the game can be played. In singles, two people play against each other and the first to win to either 21, 25 or 31 shots (how many bowls of ones are closest to the jack or kitty are shots). The controlling body sets the game to either 21, 25 or 31. An additional scoring method is set play. This comprises two sets over nine ends, an end being the completion of both players delivering all their bowls. Should a player win a set each, they then play a further 3 ends that will decide the winner. Pairs allows both people on a team to play Skip and Lead. The lead throws two bowls, the skip delivers two, then the lead delivers his remaining two, the skip then delivers his remaining two bowls.

Each end, the leads and skips switch positions. This is played over 21 ends or sets play. Triples is with three players while Fours is with four players in each team and is played over 21 ends. Another pairs variation, popular in New Zealand, is 242 pairs. In the first end of the game the A players lead off with 2 bowls each, then the B players play 4 bowls each, before the A players complete the end with their final 2 bowls. The A players act as lead and skip in the same end. In the second end the roles are reversed with the A players being in the middle. This alternating pattern continues through the game which is typically over 15 ends. Short Mat Bowls is an all-year sport unaffected by weather conditions and it does not require a permanent location as the rink mats can be rolled up and stowed away. This makes it particularly appropriate for small communities as it can be played in village halls, schools, sports and social clubs, hotels and so on. where space is restricted and is also required for other purposes: it is even played on North Sea oil rigs where space is really at a premium.

Bowls are played by the blind and paraplegic. Blind bowlers are extremely skilful. A string is run out down the centre of the lane & wherever the jack lands it is moved across to the string and the length is called out by a sighted marker, when the woods are sent the distance from the jack is called out, in yards, feet and inches-the position in relation to the jack is given using the clock,12.00 is behind the jack. The world's best are a match for the best club level sighted bowlers[ citation needed ]. Competitions Wiltshire and Swindon Sport - Bowls Bowls About Bowls Wiltshire is a Bowls HotSpot for 2016 ! The Bowls Development Alliance have announced that Wiltshire has been selected as one of 8 counties in the country to be a Bowls Hot Spot Area. The project that will be led by Wiltshire and Swindon Sport will see clubs in the County being able to enjoy a range of benefits and raise its profile as a sport anyone can take up and enjoy.

During next year some of the clubs in Wiltshire will be hosting open days and taking bowls into local communities to encourage people to give the sport a try. There will also be support for clubs to increase the number of coaches in the County and develop new skills and knowledge within clubs. Just Bowl from Bowls Development Alliance on Vimeo . About Bowls Bowls is an ancient sport, traced back to the 13th century in England, and the world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, which was first used in 1299. It is a lawn game in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex. Bowls is normally played outdoors although there are some indoor venues and the surface is either natural grass or artificial turf. Each game usually consists of 21 turns, or 'ends' and the players have to roll their bowls from the starting mat towards the jack. Each player has a set number of bowls (4 in singles & pairs, 3 in triples and 2 each in fours) and points are awarded for each bowl closer to the jack than the opposing team.

In flat green bowls the game is played on a large, rectangular and precisely levelled surface called a 'Bowling Green' which is divided in parallel playing areas called rinks In Crown Green Bowls, the entire green area is used, and the player can send the jack anywhere that they choose on the playing area. The green in this game is more akin to a golf green, with lots of undulation and uneven ground. Crown Green Bowls is very popular mostly in the North of England but also in Wales, West Midlands and Shropshire. There are various contacts for the sport of bowls Bowls England ( governs the game of Flat Green Bowls British Wheelchair Bowls Association ( ) for Wheelchair Bowls English Indoor Bowls Association ( ) NGB for indoor bowls Use the Bowls Club finder for information on local bowls clubs - click here Maitland Bowling Club Sign - Danthonia Designs USA Maitland Bowling Club Sign Next Sign BOWLS OR LAWN BOWLS is a sport that dates back to at least the 13th century, and probably the 12th, when a biography of Thomas Becket (circa 1190) included a detailed picture of London.

Telling about summer sports, the author mentioned the ‘casting of stones in jactu lapidum’. Whatever the exact meaning of this description, the game was certainly played soon after this, even if in a more rudimentary form, and the world’s oldest surviving bowling green (the Southampton Old Bowling Green) is recorded as first being used in 1299. So, one way or another, this is an old game. Interesting to note that, back in the heydays of archery warfare, the game of bowls was banned – presumably because men wouldn’t be keeping their bow and arrow skills up to snuff if they spent too much time bowling. Even after archery had fallen into disuse as a weapon, though, the game was still under prohibition. This was probably due to the disrepute of bowling alleys, which were first established in 1455 in London, and were often connected with taverns that were frequented by gamesters and other ‘riffraff’. It wasn’t until Christmas 1845 that laborers, apprentices and servants were allowed to play the game at any time other than Christmas.

It is widely believed that the invention of the lawn mower in 1830 in Britain brought on the new style of greens, as well as modern rules to go with them. Now, the game is played in over 40 countries, though its home is still Scotland. The Maitland City Bowling Club carries on the tradition in style, and the club (home of the East Maitlan Griffins) has a lot to offer, with three bowling greens, award-winning Billabong Family Buffet Restaurant, Meet and Greet Café, Riley’s Sports Bar, Function Center and much more. This sign identifies one of the greens, with its dimensional crest and hand carved lettering. Lettering Early American Gardens: The Bowling Green & the Machine in the Garden Plus their simple & grand European precedents. Personal, designed landscapes for food & ornament & social interaction Saturday, September 7, 2013 The Bowling Green & the Machine in the Garden It is thought that the game of bowls developed from the Egyptians. Artifacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C. show that one of their pastimes was to play a type of skittles with round stones.

Sculptured vases & ancient plaques show the game being played some four thousand years ago, & archaeologists have uncovered biased stone bowls from 5,000 B.C. which indicate our ancestors enjoyed the game of bowling more than seven thousand years ago. The sport spread across the world & took on a variety of forms, Bocce (Italian), Bolla (Saxon), Bolle (Danish), Boules (French) & Ula Maika (Polynesian). The sport of lawn bowls is the forerunner of curling, a popular winter version played in northern countries (including Canada) on ice. Depictions of early games of bowls in colonial America are very rare. Most paintings of the game seem to come from Flemish artists. When Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) ruled Rome, the game was known as “Bocce,” & conquering Roman Legions of centurians may well have carried the game to Europe & the British Isles. By the 13th century, bowling had spread to France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, & England.

The oldest English Bowls green still played on is in Southampton, England where records show that the green has been in operation since 1299 A.D. 1600 Playing a Game of Lawn Bowls or Lawn Billiards The game became so popular in England and in France it was prohibited by law because archery, essential to the national defense, was being neglected. The French king, Charles IV (1294-1328), prohibited the game for the common people in 1319, & King Edward III (1312-1377) issued a similar edict in England in 1361. Statutes forbidding it & other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward III, Richard II, & other monarchs. Edward III, the game was restricted by royal decree to “Noblemen & others having manors or lands.” Successive kings played & enjoyed the game. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder & firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued.

During the reign of Richard II (1452-1485) bowls were referred to as "gettre de pere" or "jetter de pierre," & describes throwing a stone, probably as round as possible. In the early 15th century bowls were made of hardwoods &, after the 16th century discovery of Santo Domingo, of lignum vitae, a very dense wood. King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was a lawn bowler, & had bowling greens installed at Whitehall, permitting the common people to play on Christmas Day. However, he banned the game for those who were not wealthy or "well to do" because "Bowyers, Fletchers, Stringers & Arrowhead makers" were spending more time at recreational events such as bowls instead of practising their trade. The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute & gamesters.

The word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511, in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541—which was not repealed until 1845—artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants & the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas, & then only in their master's house & presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those possessed of lands of the yearly value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens.

However, the green could only be used for private play, & he forbade anyone to "play at any bowle or bowles in open space out of his own garden or orchard." (In 1845, the ban was lifted, & people from all walks of life were again allowed to play bowls & other games of skill.) David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Game of Bowls The earliest documented use of the word 'Jack' in Bowls is either from 1611 "Was there euer man had such lucke? when I kist the Iacke vpon an vp-cast, to be hit away?" or alternatively Shakespeare (1564-1616) who used it in Cymbeline (thought to have been written in 1609), when he caused Cloten to exclaim, "Was there ever man had such luck! When I kissed the jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away." Shakespeare (Richard II, Act III, Scene IV): "Queen: What sport shall we devise here in this garden, To drive away the heavy thought of care?

First Lady: Madam, we'll play at bowls. Queen: 'Twill make me think the world is full of rubs. And that my fortune runs against the bias" John P Monro, Bowls Encyclopaedia (3rd ed), writes that the name 'jack' is derived from the Latin word jactus, meaning a cast or a throw. 'Jack-Bowl', was the little bowl, later shortened to 'Jack.' In 1697, R. Pierce wrote, "He had not Strength to throw the Jack-Bowl half over the Green." A sport played by young men called "casting the stone" is mentioned by William FitzStephen, a close friend of Thomas à Becket, in the preface of his biography Vita Sancti Thomae written during the twelfth century. Casting of stones translates in Latin as "jactu lapidum" & was a game in which rounded stones were thrown at or bowled towards a target object & so some are persuaded that the modern word 'Jack' derives originally from this term. A manuscript from the 13th century in the royal library, Windsor (No.

20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, which was first used in 1299. A 14th-century manuscript, Book of Prayers, in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian Library at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown, but they bowl to no mark. David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Peasants playing bowls outside an inn Fortunately, no serious effort was made to enforce the ban against ordinary men playing at bowls, & it did not apply to Scotland. Almost every English monarch was a bowler, & the royal estates were all equipped with fine bowling greens. King James I (1566-1625) issued a publication called "The Book of Sports;" &, although he condemned football (soccer) & golf, he encouraged the play of bowls. King James I was an ardent bowler, as was his son King Charles I (1600-1649). Both monarchs are reputed to have enjoyed playing for high stakes.

King Charles, according to bowling tradition, lost over $5,000 in one encounter with a Barking Hill merchant named Richard Shute. A bowling green has been a permanent fixture at Windsor Castle. Anne Boleyn (1501-1536) was a bowler, as were many noblewomen, including the first Princess Elizabeth & Queen Victoria in the 19th century. David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Playing at Bowls Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) mentions in his diary being invited to “play at bowls with the nobility & gentry.” Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) & Sir Water Raleigh (1552-1618) were bowlers. Ordinary people used public alleys and greens maintained by towns and taverns, and the well-to-do had private bowling greens on their estates. English & Scottish colonists brought the game to America in the 17th century. Apparently playing at bowls was a game to be wagered on in the early colonies.

Gambling was such a probem in the colonial South, that the Virginia General Assembly set a ten shilling fine for gaming with cards or dice at their first session in 1619. Unlawful games included bear baiting, bowling, cards, cockfighting, & dice. As early as 1737, the owner of the Centre House tavern on the eastern edge of Philadelphia's central square boasted that "gentlemen who would divert themselves at bowls" could avail themselves of the green on the grounds of his tavern. The proprietor Roger Ellicott also offered a billiard table for indoor sportsmen. In 1755, Daniel Fisher wrote in his journal while he was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: "I went into a Tavern called the "Centre House"...Here is a Bowling Green." (Daniel Fisher's Journal, Some Prominent Virginia Families, p 802) How did playing bowls become an attraction at commercial tavern gardens in the colonies? In the American colonies, bowling greens--hopefully smooth & relatively level lawns used for playing bowls--capped many colonial falling gardens.

By the 18th century, many bowling greens measured 100 by 200 ', & many were sunk slightly below the level of the ground surrounding them. Others could be irregular in shape or even oval. Sometimes called “squares” in late-18th- & early-19th-century America, bowling greens offered beauty & ornament as well as recreation. The game had simple rules. A small white ball of earthenware, called the jack, was rolled onto the green to serve as a target. Players rolled their bowls in turn trying to place them close to the jack. Bowls were slightly flattened at their poles, so that they could not be rolled in a straight line. An opponents ball could be aimed at to knock it out of its position close to the jack. Few colonial greens were level, and familiarity with the green was an advantage. David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Playing Bowls at an Inn on a River Bowling greens were recorded in Boston in 1615, New Amsterdam, as New York was then called, & not long afterwards in Washington & Virginia.

There was a bowling green in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1632, & several states have towns named "Bowling Green" due to the early settlers abiding interest in the sport. On July 30, 1666, in Port Royal South Carolina, Robert Sanford recorded, "Found...a plaine place before the great round house for their bowling recreation." (Narratives of Early Carolina 1650-1708. p. 100.) Even though the Virginia council had outlawed gambling on bowls, it seemed to continue. In the mid-Atlantic & South, playing at bowls often involved wagering. William Byrd wrote in his diary of visiting the bowling green in Williamsburg on May 5, 1721, “After dinner we walked to the bowling green where I lost five shilling.” William Byrd II began his Bowling Green in 1722 at Westover on the James River. In 1724, the Rev.

Hugh Jones description of Williamsburg noted that "Not far from hene is a large area for a market place; near which is a play house and a good bowling green." Twenty years after Byrd built his bowling green, guests at Westover were still bowling there. In 1741, the last year of Byrd's diary, almost every July afternoon had a bowling game. David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Playing Bowls at an Inn British officers installed bowling greens in the American colonies in New York in 1725. By 1733, the area was declared a public park.

1733, New York City: "Resolved...lease a piece of Land lying at the lower end of Broadway fronting to the Fort...to make a Bowling Green thereon, for the Beauty & Ornament of said Street as Well as for the Recreation & Delight of the Inhabitants of This City." (New York City Common Council Resolution, March 12, 1733) In 1735, this notice appeared in a New York City newspaper, "John Miller.—All Persons indebted to the Estate of George Montgomerie, deceased, are hereby desired to pay the same to John Miller, Gardner, at the old Bowling Green...—N.B. You may be furnished with the best kind of Garden Seeds, of several Sorts, that have been abus'd or spoil'd by ignorant Pretenders, to Silvering may be rectified & put in Order." (The New-York Weekly Journal, February 17, 1735) David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) Playing Bowls An ad for land in South Carolina advertised its location by using the bowling green as a point of reference.

October 10, 1740, Charleston, South Carolina: "TO BE LET...the house near Mrs. Trott's Pasture, where the Bowling Green." (South Carolina Gazette, October 10, 1740) A year later, an explanation of Williamsburg also touted its bowling green. 1741, Williamsburg, Virginia: "Near it is a good Bowling-Green & a Play-house." (Oldmixon, John. The British Empire in America. London: 1741. p. 408) Eliza Lucas Pinckney wrote to a friend in May, 1743, of William Middleton's Crow-Field in S. C.: "Opposite on the left hand is a large square boleing green sunk a little below the level of the rest of the garden with a walk quite round composed of a double row of fine large flowering Laurel & Catalpas which form both shade & beauty." (Pinckney, Eliza Lucas. The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney 1739-1762. edited by Elise Pinckney, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1972.

p. 61-62) Pieter Angillis (Flemish, 1685-1734) The Game of Bowls In the 1754 South Carolian Gazette, an ad announced a house to be sold, "together with all the Out houses, Bowling Green, Gardens, & other land." While taking over the management of Fort Pitt in Pittsburg, Capt. Simeon Ecuyler wrote in April of 1764, of a deer park and bowling green in the little garden there. Irish physician Dr. Henry Stevenson (1721-1814), had one of the earliest terraced gardens in the Baltimore area. His grounds displayed a flat four-bed garden on the north side of his home, called Parnassus, which Stevenson started constructing in 1763 & completed in 1769. On the south side of the house, facing the harbor, he built a bowling green & five grass terraces.

In 1770, Virginian Mary Ambler visited Mount Clare in Baltimore & recorded that she “took a great deal of Pleasure in looking at the bowling Green & also at the …very large Falling Garden thee is a Green House with a good many Orange & Lemon Trees just ready to bare…the House…stands upon a very High Hill & had a fine view of Petapsico River You step out of the Door into the Bowlg Green from which the Garden Falls & when You stand on the Top of it thee is such a Uniformity of Each side as the whole Plantn seems to be laid out like a Garden there is also a Handsome Court Yard on the other side of the House.” (Ambler, Mary. "Diary of M. Ambler, 1770." Virginia Magazine of History & Biography XLV (1937): 152-170) Pieter Angillis (Flemish, 1685-1734) The Game of Bowls Meanwhile, back in Virginia, Robert Carter wrote of his bowling green at his plantation Sabine Hall twice between 1770 - 1772.

He sent one of his slaves to cut the grass in 1772 and wrote, "Talbot set to work yesterday to shave the bowling green, he seems to do it well, but he is very slow." School tutor Philip Vickiers Fithian wrote of another plantation in 1773, Nomini Hall, Virginia: "The area of the Triangle made by the Wash-house, Stable, & School-House is perfectly level, & designed for a Bowling-Green." (Fithian, Philip Vickers. Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1773-1774: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion. Edited with an introduction by Hunter D. Farish. Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg Inc., 1943) In Annapolis, Maryland, Charles Carroll of Annapolis wrote his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, in 1775, “Examine the Gardiner strictly as to . . . Whether he is an expert at leveling, making grass plots & Bowling Greens, Slopes, & turfing them well.” (1775 Carroll, Charles of Annapolis to Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

Charles Carroll Letterbooks MS. 208 Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore Maryland.) Pieter Angillis (Flemish, 1685-1734) Figures on a Bowling Ground Virginia's Colonel George Braxton wrote to a friend just after the Revolution between 1776-1781, "I agreed wth Alexander Oliver Gardener...to finish my...Garden wth a Bolling Green." (Colonel George Braxton's Letterbook. in Horner, Frederick, The History of the Blair, Banister, & Braxton Families. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1898. p. 147-148) In 1726 George Washington’s father, Augustus, took over management of the family estate at Mount Vernon; & in 1732, the year George was born, constructed the bowling green. At this time the game was highly favored as a genteel pastime by the ranking officers of the British Colonial Army. George grew up with the game, became an avid bowler in his youth, & apparently this love of the game was never lost. He kept the green busy through the years.

By 1754, he had come into his inheritance & settled down with Martha. They kept up the family tradition of sponsoring bowling on the green as “suitable for the intelligentia & ranking army officers.” George Washington wrote on October 28, 1785, at Mount Vernon, Virginia: "Finished levelling & Sowing the lawn in front of the Ho. intended for a Bolling Green." In 1798, visitor Julian Urysn Niemcewicz wrote of his visit to Mount Vernon, "Two bowling greens, a circular one near the house, the other very large and irregular, form the courtyard in front of the house." In 1813, Noah Webster described Mount Vernon as still having its bowling green, "Of Mount Vernon. On the western bank of the Potomac uine miles below Alexandria, is the seat of the late general Washington. The house stands within fifty yards of the brink of a high stcep bank, at a bend in the river,which affords a vicw of an extensive & delightful landskip. The house is large but more magnificent than elegant.

On the west is a handsome bowling grcen, & on each side serpentine walks, bordered with trces, a flower garden on one side, & on the other, a kitehen garden The position & the improvements all rendered it a charming rctreat, & 'worthy of the illustrious proprictor." (1813 Elements of Useful Knowledge Noah Webster & Washington, George. The Diaries of George Washington. Edited by John C. Fitzpatrick. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1925. 4 Vols. Vol 2:429) 1791 Edward Savage. Mount Vernon from the Court Yard Carriage Entrance. Visitor Moreau de St Mery wrote of his 1790s visit to New York City: "The Governor's House is at the lower end of Broadway...What really embellishes this place is an enclosed bowling green, surrounded by an iron railing in front of the house." (St. Mery, Moreau de. American Journey 1793-1798. Edited by Kenneth & Anna Roberts. Garden City: 1947.

p 150) Several ads also noted bowling greens in New York City in the 1790s. In 1792, New York City: "A bowling green is in front, & stables, wood house & other necessary offices in the rear of the house." (New York Diary; or, Loudon's Register, June 25, 1792). In 1794, 1794, Belvedere House New York City: "The little grounds into which the east front opens, are formed into a bowling-green, gravel walks, & some shrubbery." (New York Magazine, August 1794, p. 451) The machine in the garden seems to have regularized bowling greens & the rules that governed play. It is claimed that the patenting of the first lawn mower in 1830 Britain, is believed to have been the catalyst, world-wide, for the preparation of modern-style greens, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, grass courts, etc. This is turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn bowls, football codes, lawn tennis, & others. Posted by

Question: Where is the world's oldest surviving bowling green, with the first recorded use being in 1299?
Answer: Southampton, England