Earliest meeting: Monday 29th March 1852
Final meeting: Monday 29th March 1852
The pleasant Shropshire village of Nesscliffe lies north of the River Severn and benefitted from a by-pass which ensured that traffic from the busy A5 missed the village. Just outside the village is Nesscliffe Country Park, and at the entrance to the park is the Old Three Pigeons Inn which dates back to the 15th century. In the mid-1800s the village held its own race meeting on Monday 29th March 1852 when thousands of spectators lined the brow of the hill which provided an extensive view of the beautiful countryside on which the races were run. The Selling Stakes over 2 miles was won by Mr Bickley’s The Whistler, who beat The Pony and Shropshire Lass. The feature race was the Open Sweepstakes which was won by The Bloomer. After racing a dinner was served at the New Inn hosted by Mr Bickley.

Nesscliffe Open Sweepstakes, Nesscliffe Selling Stakes

Monday 29th March 1852
Nesscliffe Open Sweepstakes over 4 miles
1. The Bloomer, brown mare owned by Mr Jones
2. Royal Blue, bay mare owned by Mr Harding
3. Tally-Ho, bay gelding owned by Mr Phillips

The only recorded meeting took place on Monday 29th March 1852.

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