Earliest meeting: Thursday 27th June 1839
Final meeting: Thursday 8th July 1841
The small Hampshire village of Bishop’s Waltham, a Saxon village whose name means Bishop’s settlement within a forest, is situated on the River Hamble in the Hamble Valley. Despite having a small population it organised its own races in June 1839 and was able to sustain them for a further 2 years. The inaugural meeting was held on Thursday 27th June 1839 in fields on the outskirts of the village, and the Grandstand from Southampton racecourse was brought in for the occasion. The Steward was Sir Francis Collier and an Ordinary was served at the Crown Inn courtesy of Mr Austin. Second and third meetings were held in July 1840 and Thursday 8th July 1841 respectively when entries had to be made, and colours declared, with Mr Austin at the Crown Inn. |
| This racecourse is covered in Volume 2 of Racecourses Here Today and Gone Tomorrow. Ordering details shown below. |
| Local Patrons |
Captain Delme, Mr Forster, Mr Budd |
| Principal Races |
The Waltham Stakes, Chase Cup |
Tuesday 14th July 1840 |
The Waltham Stakes over 2 miles
The Little Western owned by Captain Delme walked over |
Thursday 8th July 1841 |
The Waltham Stakes over 1 ½ miles
1. Variety owned by Mr Forster
2. Stickler owned by Mr Roe
3. Sultana owned by Mr King
The Chase Cup over a mile and a half
1. Adrian owned by Mr Budd |
The final meeting took place on Thursday 8th July 1841 and the results are shown above. |
| Course today |
A grandstand from Southampton was erected in fields on the outskirts of the village. |
| If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com |
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 |
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ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3
652 pages
774 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0
352 pages
400 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7
180 pages
140 former courses |
ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4
264 pages
235 former courses |
| Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent. |
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| Volume 2 South of Hatfield £14.99 + £3 postage |
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| Volume 3 Wales & Scotland £9.99 + £3 postage |
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| Volume 4 Ireland £9.99 + £3 postage |
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