the Hurlingham Club

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 84.jpg

The Gun Club was formed in 1860 at the Hornsey Wood Tavern, which stood in what today is Finsbury Park in Harringay, London.Hannah Velten, Beastly London: A History of Animals in the City, Reaktion Books, 2013. The creation of the park in 1867 forced a relocation and Frank Heathcote received the permission of Richard Naylor to promote live pigeon shooting at his Hurlingham estate.Albert William Money, Pigeon shooting: With instructions for beginners and suggestions for those who participate in the sport of pigeon shooting, Shooting and fishing publishing company, 1896, p. 99. His next step was the formation of the Hurlingham Club for this purpose and "as an agreeable country resort".John Lowerson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rUPoAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22hurlingham+club%22&pg=PA40 Sport and the English Middle Classes, 1870–1914], Manchester University Press, 1995, p. 40. The club leased the estate from Naylor in 1869 and in 1874 acquired the land outright for £27,500.{{cite book |first=Horace A. |last=Laffaye |title=Polo in Britain: A History |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2012 |pages= 47–50 |isbn=9780786465118}} The pigeon today forms part of the club's crest. Until 1905, clouds of pigeons were released in the summer from an enclosure near what is now a tennis pavilion.

The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), an early patron, was a keen shot and his presence ensured the club's status and notability from the beginning. The club's most recent patron was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

File:Henry Jamyn Brooks - Polo at Hurlingham - 1890.jpg

In 1873, the club published the rules of polo, which are still followed by most of the world to this day.Edward Darley Miller, Modern Polo, Hurst and Blackett, 1902, p. 333.Thomas Francis Dale, Polo past and present, Offices of Country Life, 1905, p. 24.T. B. Drybrough, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5LEXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22hurlingham+club%22 Polo], Longmans, Green, 1906, p. 1. Polo was first played at the club on 6 June 1874.Mike Huggins, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7TxuG_4iSqMC&dq=%22hurlingham+club%22&pg=PA25 The Victorians And Sport], Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, p. 25. On 18 July 1878, the club along with Ranelagh became the first to play a sports match under floodlights.{{cite book |last=Inglis |first=Simon |authorlink=Simon Inglis |title=Played in London |publisher=English Heritage |location=Swindon |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-84802-057-3 |page=22}} In 1886, the club hosted the first international polo match between England and the United States.George B. Kirsch, Othello Harris, Claire Elaine Nolte,[https://books.google.com/books?id=xdV_JV1fbZMC&dq=%22hurlingham+club%22&pg=PA147 Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States], Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 147. The polo matches for the 1908 Summer Olympics were played at Hurlingham. Three teams entered: Hurlingham, Roehampton Club, and a combined British and Irish team. Roehampton won.[http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf 1908 Summer Olympics official report.] p. 232.

The Westchester Cup was played at the club in 1900, 1902, 1909, 1921 and 1936. Before the Second World War, Hurlingham was the headquarters of British polo. The governing body of British polo is called the Hurlingham Polo Association. However polo is no longer staged at Hurlingham after the size of the club was significantly reduced after the war when the polo fields were compulsorily purchased by the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham to build council housing (the Sulivan Court estate). The Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park has succeeded to the status of the leading British polo club.

There is a nine-hole par 3 golf course that is open in winter months.

Hurlingham has been at the centre of world croquet for many years. The Croquet Association had its headquarters in the club from 1959 to 2002.Debrett's, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bkITAQAAIAAJ&q=%22hurlingham+club%22 Debrett's guide to Britain: where to go and what to see], Putnam, 1983, p. 131. Top-ranking international competitions are regularly held on the lawns, at one time the finest in the country, though the CA headquarters have since relocated to the Cheltenham Croquet Club.

Other sports include lawn tennis, cricket, bowls, skittles, squash and swimming (with both indoor and outdoor pools) as well as fitness facilities and a gymnasium. Games such as bridge, backgammon and chess are popular indoor pursuits. The club has also hosted the Grand Prix Ball{{cite web|url=http://www.gpball.co.uk |title=The Grand Prix Ball |access-date=21 March 2011 |date=3 June 2010 |publisher=GP Management }} and the Concours d'Elegance.{{cite web|url=http://www.concourslondon.com |title=Concours D'Elegance |access-date=21 March 2011 |date=3 June 2010 |publisher=Searcys |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318030534/http://www.concourslondon.com/ |archive-date=18 March 2011 }}

Members must be proposed and seconded by two current full members of the club. Since 2018, the waiting list for becoming a member has been closed, but children and spouses of current members are given preference when vacancies do arise.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurlinghamclub.org.uk/membership/ |title=The Hurlingham Club, Membership |access-date=21 October 2015 |date=21 October 2015 |publisher=Hurlingham Club }}

The club currently has around 13,000 members – of whom around 6,000 have full voting rights.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Lord Fowler, Lord Temple-Morris, Adam Raphael, novelist and peer Jeffrey Archer, the actor Trevor Eve and his wife Sharon Maughan are all members of the Hurlingham Club. Past members include Walter Buckmaster, the Carry On actress Liz Fraser and Air Vice-Marshal Sir William Cushion.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In 2011, Charles Nall-Cain, 3rd Baron Brocket was refused membership owing to his stint in prison.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

File:Hurlingham_Club,_September_2016_03.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 103.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 110.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 108.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 129.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 131.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 21.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 32.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 33.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 45.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 67.jpg

File:Hurlingham Club, September 2016 78.jpg

• Hurlingham Park
• List of gentlemen's clubs in London
• Stoke Park
• Gleneagles
• Skibo Castle

• The Hurlingham Club, 1869–1953, by Henry Taprell Dorling (1953)
• Pigeons, Polo, and Other Pastimes: A History of the Hurlingham Club, by Nigel Miskin (2000)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}

{{1908 Summer Olympics venues}}

{{Olympic venues discontinued events}}

{{Gentlemen's clubs in London}}

{{coord|51|28|01|N|0|12|03|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurlingham Club, The}}

Category:1869 establishments in England

Category:History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:Venues of the 1908 Summer Olympics

Category:Gentlemen's clubs in London

Category:Fulham

Category:Olympic polo venues

Category:Polo clubs in the United Kingdom

Category:Sport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham

Category:Sports clubs and teams established in 1869

Category:Tennis venues in London