Clifton College Close is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

venue in

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, which was used by

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

for 96 first-class matches between 1871 and 1932.CricketArchive – First-class matches on Clifton College Close. Retrieved on 11 March 2013.
/ref> It is first recorded as a cricket venue in 1860 and remains in use for local matches. The Close witnessed 13 of

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

's first-class hundreds for Gloucestershire in the County Championship. Grace's children attended the college. Children aged 3-18 are welcomed to attend the college. The Close featured in a well-known poem by O.C. Sir

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps ...

– Vitaї Lampada ("There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night")

References

Cricket grounds in Bristol Sports venues completed in 1860 Clifton, Bristol {{England-cricket-ground-stub