Charlton Down Cricket Club
Charlton Down is a new village, developed on the site of the old Herrison Hospital, four miles North of Dorchester. Part of the plan for the village included the developer building a new cricket pavilion and this was completed in 2002.
The ground and pavilion occupy a superb position, surrounded on one side by trees and on the other by views across the valley to Charminster Down.
In fact there has been a cricket ground here since before the Second World War. Originally the ground was created for the patients and staff of the hospital but during recent years several local clubs have used it as their “home ground”.
What we have achieved in our short history:
In 2003 a group of residents decided to form their own Charlton Down Cricket Club and for two years played a series of friendly matches against local opposition.
In 2005 the club entered the Dorchester Evening League
In 2006 we finished second in our division. We also played a number of friendly games.
In November 2006 the Club purchased the Freehold of the cricket ground and pavilion from West Dorset District Council. This gave us greater independence and will allow us to go further towards meeting our aim of providing friendly access to cricket and to social activities for all sections of the community.
In 2007 we achieved our greatest achievement to date winning the Dorchester League Division 3 title in 2007 ,winning it comfortably ,along with this we were proud to have been awarded the sportsmanship trophy .
In 2008 we extended our membership and managed to field teams in the Dorset Sunday League as well as continuing in the Dorchester Midweek League where we finished in a very credible 3rd position.
In 2009 led to back to back promotions in The Dorset Sunday League as well as a successful Midweek league campaign. This year also saw the addition of bar facilities to the pavilion, an outdoor concert and another increase in player base.
In 2010 saw the addition of a second Midweek team, coloured kits, our first post season tour and a brand new dual net facility as well as Sunday Div 4 action for the first time. As well as this the social side of the club was expanded and we started to host 5 to 6 touring tems throughout the season.
Looking forward to 2011 we hope to see both evening teams and our Sunday div 4 sides progress. The new bowling machine and most exciting is the preparation of the grass wicket. Although we may not be able to play many games on this year it can only be a good thing for the club.
The Club continues to welcome players of all standards and places a lot of emphasis on playing in a friendly but competitive way. We have net practice once a week and plenty of fixtures. There are also plans to develop Youth Cricket in the future as we now have a member qualified to develop the youth cricket within the club.
It’s not all cricket though! We have an active social calendar including golf days, BBQ’s etc and we plan to expand this. Members’ families are an important part of the Club and we welcome their support and participation.