Riley Recreation ground has had a very colourful life. Now a park, it has spent much of its life under the ownership of the (Upper) Crown Inn/Hotel hence it's old name of Crown Meadow, or further back, Crown Close or the Crown Enclosure. Two of it's old uses are well known - a place for the horses to graze that pulled the fire engine (although other fields were also used) and as the first home for the Victorian Marlow FC. This post is mainly about some of the other events that have taken place there. It was bigger originally, and had more of a pronounced slope up to the Cambridge Road end, hence why football match reports refer to one team as having the disadvantage of having to kick uphill towards their goal, or the "Marefield Goal".
It was sometimes the venue for early cricket matches, including one in the 1840's between teams rustled up by two rival gentleman to settle a wager. Another similar event on "Alms House Close" may be referring to the Crown Close too, but may also be related to a meadow elsewhere off Oxford Road, or Cambridge Road. A close in those days refers to an enclosed piece of land. It is no wonder the flatter Alder Meadow became the venue of choice in general.
The meadow had it's most colourful appearance during the October Marlow Fair. It housed the horse drawn caravans and wagons belonging to the menageries hosting performances in Quoiting Square, and overspilling into Oxford Road and West Street (See note below). Lions, bears and elephants were all bought to perform in this cramped venue so it's no wonder that the menageries latter moved their marquees into the Crown Meadow itself. During the first day of the fair, the meadow saw the sale of cattle, pigs and sheep, before going over entirely to pleasure use on day two. You could find all kinds of steam organs, steam powered roundabouts and side shows there, as well as throughout the town centre. When the Fair as a street based concern was cancelled after 1903, the rides and sideshows continued to come to the meadow for what was left of the Fair, with others going to Star Meadow, off Wycombe Road. They continued here until the eve of the first world war. But the site was the home to roundabouts, menageries and travelling theatres outside of fair time for well over 100 years. Some of the attractions were of the "one night only" kind, others stayed quite literally months, slotted in outside of the football clubs playing area - mostly. Beaches Roundabouts were for example a frequent visitor around the end of the 19th century and into the 20th.
Sadly, one showman died on Crown Meadow in 1893. Henry John Hall of Uxbridge was a circus and swing boat proprietor who had attended Marlow Fair for many years. On the year of his death, he was exhibiting in the meadow a month before the Fair. Normally regarded as being in good health, he was found unconscious on the floor of his caravan soon after returning from a short visit to the Red Lion. He was dead before Dr Dunbar Dickson arrived. Just 55 years old, he left a wife and a stunned fair community.
The travelling theatres - mostly putting on shows of the comedic or sensationalist kind - were a feature of early fairs in particular but continued to visit well into the Edwardian period. Unfortunately for the theatre proprietors, the powers that be became stricter on the sort of wood and canvas structures thrown up as a venue, and some got slapped with fines for failing to erect a sufficiently safe, sanitary and sturdy structure. Mr Kings "People's Empire" was one such allegedly irregular construction in 1906. Those that passed muster sometimes stayed for an entire season, such as the Electric theatre that set up in Crown Meadow in July 1909.
In 1893 the meadow saw a Grand Olympian Fete. The Olympics had yet to be resurrected so this was an event loosely inspired by the ancient games. There were athletic races, which cost a small fee to enter but gave the chance of winning a cash prize in turn. And side attractions included a brass band and a circus with trapeze artists, high wire acts and acrobats. After the sports came dancing, with refreshments provided by Mr Cole of the Crown. The day ended with a "grand illumination of coloured fires" and a few fireworks at dusk. However those paying their entry fee to the privately organised event were allegedly left very disappointed as some of the advertised entertainers did not turn up. And the high wire artist had to cut short their act when the improperly constructed wire began to sag! The improvised stage was also rough and its security was doubted. One artiste who did attend was a man who kept his balance while running on top of a giant revolving globe, juggling various knives and balls.
Lord Sangers Circus and Hippodrome was one outfit to set up here for a one night show on several occasions. It paraded through the town at mid day - complete with elephants - before setting up a large marquee and canvas stabling in the meadow. Sangers were never one to modestly announce their arrival. The 1895 Marlow show was described by them as something to "eclipse anything of its kind that has ever been submitted to any nation in the world." The display was of a "brilliant character" according to the local press and fully attended. There were two performances, one afternoon, one evening. There had been a minor scare when a circus caravan lost a wheel near the bridge but no one was hurt. Let's hope they didn't bring those poor hefty elephants over the delicate bridge itself! Other circuses to use the future Riley Park as their home include Fossett and Sons in 1901.
A "Water Carnival" hosted in the meadow as part of a circus in 1894 resulted in a court summons for Oxford Lane resident Mr Bowles. He had been in the habit for some years past of allowing the circus and roundabout proprietors to take water from his house in order to tend to their horses and operate the rides. They came to his door with a water cart and filled up. But the number of gallons needed for a water carnival on the land locked site (exact details of what this involved are sadly sketchy) caught the attention of the Marlow Water Company Engineer John Soley. He saw the circus taking a water cart to Mr Bowles' home. While it seems they may have turned something of a blind eye usually, they could not on this occasion. The matter ended up in court as the Marlow Water Company said it was not permitted to re-sell or give to others the companies water piped to a domestic address. The supply was not on a meter then. However the company could not prove Mr Bowles had accepted any money for the water and what's more the magistrates said they did not think it was generally known it was against the rules to share your water supply. It seems the magistrates were certainly unaware of the restriction so could not expect an average householder to know so Mr Bowles was let off without any fine. Mrs Bowles was the one who came to court.
The shows and attractions sometimes caused an annoyance to the staff and patients at the Cottage Hospital in it's original position at Cambridge House, Cambridge Road. At the time, medical advice was often that patients should avoid any kind of over stimulation or noise, to the point of removing pictures from the sick room walls, and laying material on the road outside an afflicted persons home to deaden the sound of horses hooves. So the sound of a circus or fairground organ in the neighbourhood was genuinely regarded as potentially dangerous if too frequent. It's interesting to note that when the hospital moved to the Glade Road / Victoria Road site, it's relative quietness was considered a strong advantage. Cambridge Road saw more and more traffic all the time it was said. Those who were in favour of the hospital staying there, argued that although match days could be noisy, the loud organs and show booths no longer attended the meadow with such regularity as before. Mr Wethered thought this was because the children were now mad on visiting moving picture shows and traditional fairground type attractions were no longer so exciting to them.
Such rides and booths were unlikely to get permission to set up when Edward Riley bought the meadow and the accompanying Crown Hotel in 1914. He donated it to the town, vesting it in some trustees which included himself. He intended the Hotel to continue and that it would provide an income to provide for the maintenance of the new recreation ground, in addition to other money left for that purpose. Unfortunately Edward died in September 1914 before the park opened, and it was decided to sell the Crown itself. (You can read more about Edward Riley here) The war, and the difficulty of selling the hotel meant the opening of the Meadow as Riley Recreation Ground was delayed until 1921. Marlow Urban District Council chairman Mr H Buckingham did the honours in front of a large crowd. It was not laid out as intended, but at last it was available for public use. The losers were Marlow FC who were told when Riley bought the meadow that they would not be allowed to continue playing there much longer. They eventually moved to Star Meadow of course, after playing some games in Porter's meadow by the train station. The loss of the "Crown Ground" made things harder still for Marlow's other more minor footie teams who had also played on the site, as well as on Star Meadow. The likes of Marlow Star, the Ramblers and Rangers now all had to compete for space on one main site along with hockey teams. The clubs large iron and wood grandstand, purchased from Hampshire Cricket Club/St Mary's FC, remained on the Crown ground after the meadows sale. It was presumably their intention to move it to a new permanent home when that was found, as it had after all already been dismantled to come long distance to Marlow in the first place. But as the regular football came to a halt in the First World War, and the new park was not yet ready to open, the stand stayed put until 1918, when it was sold for three times what the supporters syndicate had paid for it, as iron was now relatively scarce. The sale happened because the club could not at that time see when football would be restarted again on any sort of scale. It was purchased by a local builder and some of the profits invested in National War Bonds. During the First World War the Crown Ground was used by teams from the locally stationed armed forces playing in the military leagues.
The residents of Cambridge and Crown Roads may not have been sorry to see the football go. It was a frequent cause of complaint that when Marlow played at home, men would obstruct the two roads by parking their vehicles in the highway there and standing on the carts etc hoping to get a free view of the action. Mr Hillsden was one Marlow man caught by PC Atkinson in 1899 doing just that, along with a number of out of town football fans. Others had departed too quickly for the constable to collar. In 1896 a creative group of men were summoned for blocking Cambridge Rd with ladders leant against the perimeter of the ground, to provide them with a birdseye view of the match. They were let off as they all said they didn't know that they were doing anything wrong and had immediately departed once spoken to. ( James Dormer, Daniel Clark, Frederick and William Price, James Edwards, William and James Tubb, Albert Toovey, and for standing on a parked cart, Nicholas White.) When Marlow moved to Star Meadow, such action would be unnecessary as the site was barely enclosed and anyone could get a good view of the match from the surrounding area! It was said that if Marlow hoped to gain any profits from match attendance in the future they would have to erect a canvas wall around the meadow to screen the match play from curious eyes. Visibility of a different kind was sometimes a problem at the Crown Ground. It's amazing how many matches are said to have been played in conditions of thick fog. "Good play was almost impossible" as one match report from 1890 had it, relating to a match played by the Marlow Ramblers on the ground Aka the Wednesday Ramblers. Matches could also be shortened for other reasons - such as the visiting team needing to catch an early train home in December 1888. On that occasion they just stopped playing after an hour.
This post has only covered a few of the many many events held at the now Riley Recreation Ground. It's had a role to play in Coronation and Jubilee Celebrations too which feature in their own posts. And it was a gathering place to start parades and marches, a venue for amateur athletic meets and Borlase school sports, it hosted agricultural shows...the list goes on. And all this before it became a public park. Marlow should say thank you not just to Riley for his gift, but the various proprietors of the Crown Inn and Hotel for allowing the use of the meadow for so many events, sometimes free of charge.
Notes:
Some of the menageries known to have visited Crown Meadow specifically both in and out of fair time include: Edmonds Menagerie in the 1880's, Anderton and Haslam's show and menagerie in the 1890's, Wombwells/Bostock & Wombwells under various owners from the 1840's into the 20thc and so on.
For information on a raid on circus workers performing on Crown Meadow during the First World War see this post here
And info on Captain Marshall's Marlow Menagerie here
Looking towards Oxford Rd
