MEM25581 - Bridgetown Cricket Ground (Monument)

The Bridgetown Cricket Club was founded in 1924, with the ground rented and pavilion constructed in the same year. It nonetheless does not appear on the OS Map recorded from 1928-1938 [1]. The pavilion is centred at SS 9225 3296, with the ground extending in a broad oval between the rising hillside to the west, and the River Exe to the east. The club was founded by Roy Nesfield, a keen cricketer employed as a Land Agent by the Milton Estate on Exmoor. Nesfield chose the site due to its relatively level nature, located beside the River Exe c. 500m south of the village centre. Access to the ground is via a wooden footbridge over the River Exe, which while relatively modern in its construction retains a narrow character and somewhat precarious nature. [2] The pavilion itself is a timber framed and timber clad building which was originally thatched with ferns from the nearby moorland. It is now thatched with reed, retaining a traditional rounded shape around the eaves. The pavilion itself is rectangular in shape, oriented with the long sides facing south-east/north west. It is located in the north eastern corner of the ground, raised on a stone and rubble built plinth which itself is also timber clad, apart from stone clad pillars visible on the eastern face. [3] The front façade retains two single glazed wooden windows, each with four square panes of glass. In the centre is the rectangular double door, which is reache dvia a flight of three concrete steps. Two benches lie on either side of the door, behind a veranda-style fence made of wood. Above the central doorway is a large clock with a plaque below in memor of Timmy "Gilly" Gil, placed in his memory in 2021. This is set into a domed arch in the thatch, giving the central eaves a ointed appearance above. To the right hand side of the doorway is a shield shaped white plaque which bears the legend "BCC 1924" to honour the club's foundation. A further plaque on the left hand side of the doorway celebrates the club's centenary in 2024. [4]