A Brief History of the Club

The location of Dartmouth Bowling Club used to known as Jackman’s on Ford Gardens, which was taken over by the local council in 1904 and the transformation began. The position where most of the bowling green is now situated was the nursery garden laid out with flowerbeds and seats. There were three green houses (one cool house and two spans roofed warm houses). The warm houses were heated with a small saddle boiler and when the houses were taken down, the pipes were re-used in the green house by the North Embankment gardens.

The higher portion of the grounds (leased to Mr. Jackman) had to be open to the public 10am-8pm in the summer and 10am-5pm in the winter. All the ground on Victoria Road side was enclosed with iron railings which were removed during World War II. On the east wall, opposite the entrance to what is now a recreational play area, was an old climbing post called Glynie de Dijon (about 70 years old) which has also been since removed.

On 17th March 1905 the decision was taken to convert the nursery garden to a bowling/tennis green; the Dartmouth Chronicle reported, "Work on laying out Ford Gardens is proceeding under the direction of the surveyor. The Green is to be 120' by 60' with a raised path all round, seats will be provided so that spectators may watch the game without inconvenience. After the green is complete a shelter will be erected with conveniences."

In April 1906 a short notice said, "The recently formed Dartmouth Bowling & Tennis Club have arranged their first games with Torquay St Mary's and Paignton, other clubs have been written to. The formal opening of the green has been fixed for Wednesday 11th May."

Today the club is used just for bowling.