Wellesley Recreation Ground

The Wellesley Recreation Ground is an important historic and recreational asset of Great Yarmouth and has great untapped potential:

• the world's oldest football stand
• brand new state-of-the-art 3G pitch
• fantastic facilities for athletics
• recently refurbished grade II listed tennis pavilion and ticket office
• situated next to the sea
• part of a strong urban fabric
• adjacent to the Venetian Waterways and Boating Lake 
• walking distance to the town centre that is itself being regenerated

The Wellesley Recreation Ground was opened in 1888 in order to provide formal facilities for sports in Great Yarmouth. By 1890, local architect, JW Cockrill, had erected a tennis pavilion, ticket office and grandstand on the site. All three buildings are now listed with Grade II status. The grandstand is now considered to be the oldest football stand in Britain, and possibly the world, and is still in use. The other two buildings are not in use and are currently boarded up. The Recreation Ground is also protected by a 'Fields in Trust' covenant.

Today, the ground is utilised by Great Yarmouth Town Football Club and Great Yarmouth Athletics Club, with community use on the co-located 3G pitch and tennis court.

In 2015, Great Yarmouth Borough Council undertook a Sport, Play and Leisure Strategy to provide an evidence-led approach to the future provision of leisure and sport facilities for the borough's population. The need for further artificial grass pitches (3G/4G) in the borough was identified to serve the borough's needs moving forward. The Wellesley Road Recreation Ground was also identified in the strategy as a key site that could benefit from a trust model of management, recognising the opportunities for dedicated site management and external funding.

In 2019, Sporting Assets (opens new window) was commissioned to complete a feasibility study of the site, to look at future development and improvements opportunities that could be made to meet the needs of the community and the Council's objectives. The feasibility study was completed in March 2019. The initial review of the site identified several site issues including:

• increased anti-social behaviour on the site
• lack of planned maintenance investment of the site with the grandstand being in poor decorative condition, and the changing rooms in need of complete refurbishment
• the Grade II listed tennis pavilion and ticket office are redundant and continue to be at risk of loss

The feasibility study informed the start of a phased approach to improving the site.

Following a successful bid to the Football Foundation, a number of upgrades to the Wellesley Recreation Ground have taken place, with a focus on developing the site as an outdoor recreational sports and leisure hub for the Borough. The developments include a brand new state-of-the-art 3G football pitch and fully refurbished and repurposed tennis pavilion offering welfare facilities for users of the 3G pitch.

The developments have enhanced the performance quality , moving forward will ensure the longevity of the site and maximise the benefits of this sporting amenity. 

The development had no adverse visual impact on existing heritage assets, minimal visual impact and no unacceptable impact on local and residential amenities or the surrounding environment.

Very recently, improvement works on the athletics track and throwing cage have taken place, plus the ticket office has undergone refurbishment.

Following the completion of the 3G pitch and tennis pavilion, opportunities to improve the Grade II listed football stadium will be explored.

A brand-new artificial grass 9v9 (4,108sqm) football pitch has been installed to the south of the site, which was previously an unused grassed area. The pitch includes a spectator area and is surrounded by 4.5m ball stop protective fencing, plus six new 15m LED-lit floodlights.

Refurbishment and repurposing of the Grade II listed tennis pavilion has provided changing and welfare facilities for the 3G pitch and other activities on site. The refurbishment includes two separate changing facilities with showers and toilets, a communal breakout area with basic kitchen facilities, and a separate accessible toilet facility.