 The Village Hall, 1960 (photo: Keith Brooks Collection) |
 The Village Hall, 2005 (photo: Keith Brooks) |
Cricket has been played in Horspath for more than a century. It is thought that the Cricket Club was founded in the mid 1890s possibly 1894 - two years after the formation of Horspath Parish Council - when a game was played against Garsington. The cricket pitch was created in a field to the East of the current pitch. Pads were unknown and players sported the same hobnailed boots and leather leggings they wore at work on the farm. The pitch was a field which had been ploughed for centuries in a "ridge and furrow" pattern around the contour of the hill. This prevented water running off and created a series of ridges and valleys in the land, making fielding interesting to say the least. Matches were limited to neighbouring villages because of transport limitations.
The present pitch was created in 1924 when Horspath Parish Council acquired the land from Corpus Christi college in Oxford. Only the square was levelled, the outfield was mown once or twice a year for hay. In 1926, the Parish Council acquired a First World War army hut from Wendover. It was brought to Horspath on a horse and cart and placed in the corner of the current car park. This was to become the village hall and cricket pavilion. The outfield was only levelled in the 1960s - a decade which also saw the introduction of Sunday Cricket. It hadn't been allowed before as it was considered to be disrespectful to the Church.
The current village hall was opened in 1965 and recent times have seen improvements to the clubroom, changing rooms and the installation of two outdoor nets. In 2001 the club merged with another local cricket club in the area. However this move was unsuccessful and Horspath Cricket Club reformed in the winter of 2003-4.
With acknowledgements to Horspath Cricket Club