Club History

The Club’s History

The Wortham Bowls Club is thought to have been formed in the 1920s by a Reverend Faning who allowed its members to play the game on the Rectory Lawn. Successive rectors came and went until 1959 when the building was sold and all bowls ceased to be played there.

Fortunately at that time the Coronation Playing Fields were being developed on the Long Green Common in Wortham to provide, under the auspices of the Parish Council, facilities for playing football, cricket and tennis. Also at that time a local farmer, Billy Ling, a keen bowling enthusiast, prepared a bowling green on the Common with the help of his own workmen.

The Playing Fields Committee provided funds for seeding and fencing. In 1962 the green was opened by Alec Page, President of the International Bowling Association.

In 1983 a DIY clubhouse was officially opened to replace a former railway carriage which had previously served the needs of the Club.

After lengthy negotiations with interested bodies a new modern clubhouse (the present one) was built on site in February 1997 with the aid of grants from the Mid Suffolk District Council and the Sports Council (Lottery).

This development has done much to raise the status of Wortham Bowls Club within in the village and amongst visiting clubs in Norfolk and Suffolk.