The Bletchley Cricket Pavilion, now on the grounds of the local college campus has recently been included on a list of the 10 most endangered buildings compiled by the Victorian Society.
Built in the 1890s as part of the expansion of the Bletchley Park Estate commissioned by the wealthy financier, Herbert Leon, the pavilion itsself was sold by the estate just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and was later used by Bletchley Grammar School, which then sold the pavilion on but kept the cricket pitch. Its current ownership is a little murky and it is believed to be owned by someone other than the college.
But now the Victorian Society says the building ‘has no proper context’, as it is cut off from its former cricket green. The most recent photo's on the internet show a piece of history that certainly post a far brighter picture of it than the one we found.
Claim the large hedge helps to conceal vandals and thieves who have stolen bricks and timber, leaving the building extremely fragile are in my opinion no more than complete rubbish as the building is easy to find and not overly hard to access (Albeit at your own risk as it really does look as though a single gust of wind would blow it clean over)
“Hopefully all is not lost yet. It’s the pavilion’s last hope this year to find a sympathetic owner." seems to be the view of Victorian Society and in truth it would be an absolute dream to see this pavillion restored to its former glory.
Visited with James prior to our main jaunt around Northampton.
In its heyday:
Now
Thanks for looking
Built in the 1890s as part of the expansion of the Bletchley Park Estate commissioned by the wealthy financier, Herbert Leon, the pavilion itsself was sold by the estate just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and was later used by Bletchley Grammar School, which then sold the pavilion on but kept the cricket pitch. Its current ownership is a little murky and it is believed to be owned by someone other than the college.
But now the Victorian Society says the building ‘has no proper context’, as it is cut off from its former cricket green. The most recent photo's on the internet show a piece of history that certainly post a far brighter picture of it than the one we found.
Claim the large hedge helps to conceal vandals and thieves who have stolen bricks and timber, leaving the building extremely fragile are in my opinion no more than complete rubbish as the building is easy to find and not overly hard to access (Albeit at your own risk as it really does look as though a single gust of wind would blow it clean over)
“Hopefully all is not lost yet. It’s the pavilion’s last hope this year to find a sympathetic owner." seems to be the view of Victorian Society and in truth it would be an absolute dream to see this pavillion restored to its former glory.
Visited with James prior to our main jaunt around Northampton.
In its heyday:
Now
Thanks for looking
