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ground and move to the Lower
Grounds; the club resolved to spend £14,000 on upgrading the facilities for football, including replacing the cinder cycling track with a concrete one. Some of the Pleasure Grounds buildings remained, but most of the facilities were subsumed into the building of
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The clerk of works, Henry
Quilter, had already arranged to take over 31 acres of the park area, in the Lower Grounds directly to the north of Aston Park, which soon became the name by which the area was known; the first season tickets for entry to all facilities (including boating and
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championships between 1882 and 1887. The sale of the cricket ground required a new track - a quarter of a mile around, with banked corners - to be set up in 1889, on the site of the ornamental lake. A new concrete banked track was built when Aston Villa bought the Lower
Grounds.
178:, being set up. However, Quilter too ran out of money, and in 1878 he sold his interest to the Aston Lower Grounds Company, which made Quilter managing director, for £45,000 in cash and shares, although £35,000 was owed on a mortgage to the previous freehold owner.
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By 1889 however the ground had been sold for housing, with
Jardine Road, Endicott Road, and Nelson Road being built over the pitch, and sporting events moved to the drained fish-pond/ornamental lake area, which did not have enough room for a full cricket field.
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In 1879, an aquarium was set up, in a 312' long building. The aquarium was not a success, and a menagerie replaced it in 1886, which included an aviary, a monkey house, tigers, lions, a leopard, Russian bears, elephants, and kangaroos. The
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professionals, on 26 May 1884; the match was scheduled for 3 days, but was over in 1, the swift conclusion being blamed on a grassless and muddy pitch. Australia won by 4 wickets, with 217 runs being scored in the entire match.
159:, and in July 1863, during a charity fête in the Park, Selina Powell, a tightrope walker who performed under the name of "Madame Geneive, the Female Blondin", fell to her death. The company was duly liquidated in 1864.
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J. A. Langford was put in charge of the Aston Hall and Park
Company, but the Park suffered from a number of disasters. In 1861, a group of "roughs" rioted when refused admission to a performance by
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rink in 1875; he also adapted the cricket pitch for football over the winter from 1874, with a football club made up of the workers on the grounds,
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Cycling events had been held in the Upper Park in 1870, and by 1875 the Lower
Grounds was hosting such events; A 501 yard cinder
202:, and in 1911 Villa bought the entire site, closing it off to the general public. The club demolished the buildings in 1912.
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The Park held cricket matches from at least 1861, when the North met the South on what was called the "New Ground".
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The football ground - on the cricket pitch - was considered the most prestigious in the
Midlands, hosting the
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Aston Lower
Grounds, circa 1886. Villa Park was built mostly over the pond at the south end of the Grounds
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The Lower
Grounds were originally the kitchen, private gardens, and fish-ponds belonging to
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was a pleasure ground area in
Birmingham, open to the public in the late Victorian era.
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Aston Hall and Company Limited, Memorandum and Articles of Association, 1858
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Quilter improved the Grounds by preparing 2 lakes for boating, and adding a
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was also installed in 1879, around the cricket pitch. The track held the
242:. It even hosted a floodlit match between Quilter's Birmingham club and
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39:
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Wild West show also played at the Lower Grounds in September 1891.
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The most prestigious cricket match the ground held was between the
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finals until 1895, and representative matches involving the
304:"Serious riot and destruction of property at Aston Park".
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on 16 June 1858, marking her first visit to Birmingham.
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167:clubs) were 10/6, and 5/- for the grounds only.
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646:Football venues in Birmingham, West Midlands
16:Park and sports venue in Aston, Birmingham
394:"Aston Lower Grounds Company (Limited)".
364:"The skating rink at the Lower Grounds".
661:Defunct velodromes in the United Kingdom
494:"Disappearance of Aston Lower Grounds".
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638:
584:"Cycling at the Lower Aston Grounds".
524:"Australians v An Eleven of England".
112:Birmingham Cricket & Football Club
554:"Football - Sheffield v Birmingham".
282:Supplement to the Birmingham Journal
473:. Birmingham: Sports Projects Ltd.
409:"The aquarium and assembly rooms".
13:
656:Defunct cricket grounds in England
615:"Birmingham - Aston Lower Grounds"
509:"Aston Park Grand Cricket Match".
217:and an England XI, featuring five
144:. The Grounds, under the name of
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681:1897 disestablishments in England
671:Sports venues completed in 1859
666:Rugby union stadiums in England
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334:"Dissolution of the company".
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349:"Aston Park, Lower Grounds".
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319:"Foresters' fete at Aston".
280:"The progress to the Park".
93:; 127 years ago
75:; 166 years ago
57:; 166 years ago
7:
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30:Lower Grounds at Aston Park
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556:Sheffield Daily Telegraph
379:"The Editor's Handbook".
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454:"The Aston Villa club".
443:: 1. 14 September 1891.
439:"Aston Lower Grounds".
424:"Aston Lower Grounds".
308:: 2. 18 September 1861.
469:Inglis, Simon (1997).
458:: 10. 21 January 1897.
260:National Cycling Union
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573:: 1. 25 October 1878.
558:: 12. 1 January 1876.
471:Villa Park: 100 Years
428:: 4. 21 January 1886.
236:Birmingham Senior Cup
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513:: 1. 30 August 1861.
398:: 4. 1 January 1878.
193:decided to sell its
543:: 3. 30 April 1895.
528:: 746. 31 May 1884.
498:: 2. 7 August 1912.
383:: 1. 20 April 1901.
353:: 1. 14 April 1864.
122:Aston Lower Grounds
23:
22:Aston Lower Grounds
603:: 7. 8 April 1889.
599:"Cycle jottings".
588:: 7. 11 June 1889.
569:"Electric light".
413:: 5. 7 April 1879.
323:: 2. 21 July 1863.
284:: 3. 19 June 1858.
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338:: 8. 26 May 1864.
244:Nottingham Forest
189:In October 1895,
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176:Birmingham F.C.
157:Charles Blondin
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622:. Retrieved
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541:Morning Post
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539:"Football".
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47:Construction
27:Former names
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686:Former zoos
215:Australians
42:B6 6HE
640:Categories
267:References
200:Villa Park
146:Aston Park
142:Aston Hall
40:Birmingham
246:in 1878.
219:Lanashire
230:Football
35:Location
250:Cycling
206:Cricket
128:History
106:Tenants
96: (
78: (
60: (
624:8 June
477:
88:Closed
70:Opened
526:Field
165:quoit
52:Built
626:2024
475:ISBN
120:The
98:1897
91:1897
80:1858
73:1858
62:1858
55:1858
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