Earliest meeting: August 1821
Final meeting: August 1865
The Cheshire parish of Astbury was one of 8 ancient parishes in the Congleton and Macclesfield regions of the county. Another of the ancient parishes was Buglawton, and by 1894 the parishes became suburbs of Congleton Rural District. It is known that Astbury held its own races on a number of occasions, notably in 1821 and 1865. Congleton held regular race meetings, starting on Wednesday 20th August 1828 near Somerford Park, with meetings continuing on a regular basis until a final event on Tuesday 14th August 1877. However, in August 1865 the choice of venue was between Astbury and Buglawton.
The silver trophy below is shown courtesy of David Copland and was the prize for a race at Astbury in 1821. The racecourse was on the 'Big Bent Field' on the outskirts of Astbury, with the main race being won by Mr John Smith of Chapel House, Congleton. Over 70 years after the race the silver trophy was put on display at the Astbury Show on Wednesday 25th July 1894 by Mr William George Smith of Brownlow, grandson of the winner Mr John Smith.
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
