We are back to Chesterfield for this posting – more from our ‘Chesterfield Streets and Houses’ book.
Time for a game of bowls? It’s often been said (and written) that the bowling green off South Place and New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield, dates from 1294, but there’s no evidence for this. It is, though, one of the oldest in the country still in use – it was first mentioned in 1651. It’s seen here in an engraving from Ford’s 1839 ‘History of Chesterfield…’ The building behind is the old Guild Hall, demolished and replaced in the late 1840s, by a new building – itself now demolished.
Our second illustration shows the Chesterfield Borough Police Force on the bowling green, outside the 1840s replacement Municipal Hall, for the annual inspection of equipment. At one time the hall acted as offices, courthouse and police station.
Posted 26 January 2021