Herne Hill Velodrome
Herne Hill in 2012
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| Former names | London County Grounds |
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| Location | Burbage Road Herne Hill London |
| Coordinates | 51°27′4″N 0°5′29″W / 51.45111°N 0.09139°WCoordinates: 51°27′4″N 0°5′29″W / 51.45111°N 0.09139°W |
| Owner | Dulwich Estate |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1891 |
The Herne Hill Velodrome is a velodrome or track cycling venue in Herne Hill, in south London. It is one of the oldest cycling tracks in the world, having been built in 1891. It hosted the track cycling events in the 1948 Summer Olympics and was briefly the home of Crystal Palace Football Club during World War I.
Between 1987, when the track at Paddington Recreation Ground was demolished, and 2011, when the London Velopark for the 2012 Summer Olympics opened, Herne Hill was the only track in London.
Herne Hill was originally named the London County Grounds, the track of the London County Cycling and Athletic Club. It became popularly known as Herne Hill track or velodrome after its position just off Burbage Road, in Herne Hill, part of the London Borough of Southwark.
The velodrome was founded by George Hillier, an amateur racer, in 1891. Before then the leading venue had been at nearby Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace, however, had no banking and a poor surface and supporters favoured a track which opened north of the Thames in Paddington, in 1888. Hillier had been a leading light at Crystal Palace and tried to persuade the owners, the Crystal Palace Company, to win back the supporters and racers by redesigning the track. The company declined and Hillier looked for a new site south of the Thames. He found an area off Burbage Road in Herne Hill and leased it from Dulwich College Trustees.
Work on the new track was undertaken by W. and J. Peacock, a building company sympathetic to cycling. It started in September 1890 and finished, ahead of schedule, in March 1891. The first race, open only to members of the Herne Hill club, was on 16 April 1891. The first open meeting was on 23 May that same year.
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