Earliest meeting: October 1810
Final meeting: Thursday 6th October 1870
The Shropshire market town of Ellesmere lies close to Oswestry and is famous for its 11th century motte and bailey castle which was built by the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomerie. The ‘County History of Shropshire’ recorded that a race meeting took place in Ellesmere in October 1810, with races therafter annually for the next 34 years. The principal race each year was the Ellesemere Silver Cup which was won in 1823 by Enterprise owned by Mr Morgan. The meeting was usually restricted to a two-day meeting held each October until 1843, but in 1844 it extended to a three day meeting which began on Wednesday 14th August and finished on Friday 16th August, after which racing lapsed. It was to be 21 years before racing returned to Ellesmere in the form of a National Hunt meeting organised by the Ellesmere Hunt. The first steeplechase meeting was held in 1865 and further meetings were staged annually until Thursday 6th October 1870.

Monday 27th October 1823
Ellesmere Silver Cup over 2 miles
1. Enterprise, bay mare owned by Mr Morgan
2. Little Bob, bay gelding owned by Mr Paddock
3. Hammer, bay mare owned by Mr Pritchard

The final meeting took place on Thursday 6th October 1870.

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

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