Croydon Races

The Start for the Memorable Derby of 1844, by John Frederick Herring (1795-1865) (after) 
PCF12

Who’d have thought we would be experiencing a virtual Grand National at the weekend?  And it may surprise you to know that Croydon has its own rich history of horse racing. 

Horse racing at Croydon dates way back to the Middle Ages and research suggests that even Queen Elizabeth I visited a race meeting in Croydon.  At that time, early maps show the course ran straight along the Brighton Road.  The races moved to Park Hill in 1860 and in 1866 a site was found at Stroud Green, now more recognisable as Ashburton Park and the surrounding area.  A railway station at Woodside was opened in 1871 which attracted a growing number of racegoers from London. (The station has now been replaced by Woodside Tram stop). 

From 1879 a licence was required to operate a race course and there was opposition to renew the license from Councillor Hinton who asked for support ‘to put an end to the blasting, blighting and withering influence that the races spread all around…if you think I exaggerate, go and taste the pestilential air that is belched forth from thousands of throats in filthy conversation’.  He asked the Mayor to ‘remove this foul blot which, like a festering canker, was eating out the vitals of their moral system’.  Another Councillor, however, felt it would be wrong to interfere ‘while they allowed and gave police protection to a gang of roughs who went through the town with a band’ (referring to the Salvation Army).  When Croydon became a county borough in 1888, it gained the authority to issue licences.  The licence for the racecourse at Woodside was refused.  

In November 1890, the last races in Croydon were at the National Hunt meeting and were even described in the South Wales Echo….   

‘After a sharp frost, the morning opened anything but pleasant.  A thick mist enveloped the course but little could be seen of the racing.  There was however a very large company present to assist at the last meeting at Woodside…’   

The race was won by Bedfellow, beating the favourite, Royal Duke into third place. 

By Mandy Smith
Collections Access Officer

5th April 2020

Sources: Croydon Past – John Gent 

                British Newspaper Archive 

Further reading: Croydon Races by James Beavis