The Polytechnic Stadium is a sports venue on Hartington Road,

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is the centre piece of the Quintin Hogg Memorial Grounds (now known as

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

Sports Grounds).

History

In 1888 Quintin Hogg built a boathouse near

Chiswick Bridge Chiswick Bridge is a reinforced concrete deck arch bridge over the River Thames in West London. It is one of three bridges opened in 1933 as part of an ambitious scheme to relieve traffic congestion west of London. The structure carries the A ...

, which is used at the finish of the

university boat race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the U ...

each year.Chiswick Research Guide
/ref> When Hogg died in 1903, an appeal to raise funds for a memorial in his memory took place. The Quintin and Alice Hogg Memorial was built and a piece of land in Chiswick was purchased. In 1936 plans were drawn up for a sports stadium to be built at the site. The design was undertaken by Joseph Addison, Head of Architecture at

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

. The stadium was home to the

Polytechnic Harriers The Kingston Athletic Club and Polytechnic Harriers or Kingston & Poly AC for short is an athletic club based in Kingston upon Thames in England. History The club was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg (merchant), Quintin Hogg in 1883, a ...

athletics club, along with several local clubs and schools. It was also used for international and national competitions as soon as it was built. In 1938 the sports ground was extended for the stadium to be built by 7.5 acres. The grandstand had a capacity of 658 spectators and contained a restaurant on the first floor. In July 1944 the stadium suffered bomb damage with all the windows blown out and the running track damaged. Behind the stand there is a miniature railway. The venue hosted the Women's Amateur Athletic Association Championships in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

and

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. From 1938 until 1973 the

Polytechnic Marathon The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the ...

finished at the stadium. In the 1963 edition of the marathon a world record was set at the stadium by

Leonard Edelen Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen (September 22, 1937 – February 19, 1997) was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minut ...

. Primarily a track and field athletics venue, it hosted the

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

preliminaries for the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

. The grandstand is now a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

structure, but is unused due to it not being able to meet modern health and safety criteria. It was the home stadium of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team Fulham RLFC (now the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

) between 1985 and 1990.

References

External links

*
Polytechnic StadiumVideo of Olympic athletics trials at the stadiumVideo of Windsor to Chiswick Marathon in 1950Jim Peters Marathon World Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polytechnic Stadium, The Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey venues Defunct rugby league venues in England London Broncos Sports venues in London Chiswick Buildings and structures in Chiswick

History

See also

References

External links