Earliest meeting: Wednesday 25th September 1867
Final meeting: Friday 9th September 1870
The Kent village of Meopham is located in the borough of Gravesend, with the parish of Meopham comprising 4 villages, the manor of Meopham along with Harvel, Dodmore and Culverstone. The village has a long history and is first recorded in 788 at the time of King Offa. The ‘History of Kent’ noted that race meetings took place in the village on Coverstone Green in the latter half of the 19th century and, along with other Kent courses, suffered as a result of the Jockey Club introducing minimum daily prize money of £300, and insisting that at least one race be worth at least £150 and run at a mile and upwards. The earliest record of a meeting in Meopham was on Wednesday 25th September 1867 which opened with Lord Craven, owned by Mr Kirby, winning the Trial Stakes over a mile. The feature race was the Innkeepers’ Plate which saw Meopham Butterfly victorious at 4/7 favourite. Meetings continued for the next 3 years until a final card on Friday 9th September 1870.
The article below is from the Bell’s Life and Sporting Chronicle and is shown courtesy of the British Newspaper Archive Online.
Wednesday 25th September 1867
The Innkeepers’ Plate over 1 mile
1. Meopham Butterfly, aged mare owned by Mr French
2. Gipsy Girl, grey mare owned by Mr Hutt
3. Chessy, chestnut gelding owned by Mr Houghton
I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the map shown below.
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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
