West Hendford

West Hendford

The ground (top left) in 1938.
Ground information
Location	Yeovil, Somerset
Coordinates	50°56′13″N 2°38′46″W / 50.937°N 2.646°W / 50.937; -2.646Coordinates: 50°56′13″N 2°38′46″W / 50.937°N 2.646°W / 50.937; -2.646
Establishment	1874
Demolished	1944
Team information
Yeovil Cricket Club (1874–1944) Yeovil Rugby Club (1935–1944) Somerset (1935–1939)
As of 29 March 2015 Source: CricketArchive

West Hendford Cricket Ground was a first-class cricket ground located in Yeovil, Somerset. The land for the ground was first leased by Yeovil Cricket Club in 1874, and was also used for a range of other sports, most significantly hosting Yeovil Rugby Club in the 1890s, and then again from 1935 until the ground was closed. Significant improvements were made to the ground during the 1930s, including the opening of a new pavilion, jointly funded by the Rugby and Cricket clubs. The ground was demolished in 1944 when Westland Aircraft extended their factory, and both Yeovil Cricket Club and Rugby Club moved to Johnson Park.

Between 1935 and 1939, the ground hosted five annual Somerset County Cricket Club matches in July or August; the first of which nearly broke a county record for ticket sales on the gate. Somerset only won one of the five matches, the 1936 contest against Worcestershire.

Yeovil and County Cricket Club was formed in 1865, and was the first attempt at setting up a county cricket team for Somerset. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the club broke up. In 1874, the club was re-formed with the lesser remit, as Yeovil Cricket Club. As part of the club's resuscitation, the committee purchased the use of a field in West Hendford in Yeovil, from a local farmer, Mr Brook. The field, part of Key Farm, was leased for £10. There is record of a match being played on the ground the following year between two sets of members of the Yeovil Cricket Club. During the late 19th-century, the ground was used for other sports as well as cricket; it had a grass athletics track, and also hosted Yeovil Football Club, who at the time played both association and rugby football. The football club played at West Hendford on an irregular basis during the late 19th-century, but returned in 1935, by which time they only played rugby, and had changed their name accordingly to Yeovil Rugby Club. In 1895, the cricket club committee announced that there was provision for a longer lease, of five or seven years, and that they would make improvements to the ground to enable it to host first-class cricket. The ground was also used for field hockey in the early 20th-century, hosting a Yeovil Hockey Club.