Burford Town Bowls Club was created in April 1931. The founders, Chairman Mr Piggott, Secretary Mr Soanes, President Dr Cheatle and the Treasurer Mr Porter formed an enthusiastic committee, and within a month they had 39 members (all male, although members were permitted to bring wives and lady friends to watch games!). Of course, it was not long before the women wanted to join in. In 1934 it was decided that ladies be allowed to play between the hours of 2pm and 5:30pm every weekday.
Six months later, and such had been the success of this decision, that the week was divided up with two days for the ladies, two days for the men, and two days mixed play.
The records from that period do not give much information about the success of club matches during that first season, what is clear, however, is the huge effort was made to construct and maintain the green; they rolled, they weeded and fertilised. Mr Reavley, a prominent member, donated 28lb of Sulphate of Ammonia towards this. They put up a fence and they bought Green mats and Shoe slips, the club was moving forward.
The club moved along quite happily, one successful season followed by another, the green improving in quality and the member reaping the benefits with a host of successful tournaments. There was a break during the war years but the club was resurrected soon after and came back stronger than ever.
After the hardship of the war years, recreation was more important than ever before, and the committee were keen to improve facilities at the club. In 1954 Burford Playing Field Committee granted £350 to the bowls club for the construction of a timber clubhouse. It was a modest building, heated by a gas stove and lit by a storm lamp. It lasted a full nine years, being replaced in 1963 by another wooden structure, this one survived until the current clubhouse was opened in 1995. The build was partly funded by a lottery grant, and a lot of fundraising by members.
With modern luxuries like electricity, running water, and toilets, this was change on an epic scale. These facilities now enable the club house to accommodate visiting teams, social events and private parties. It is now used by many local groups as meeting place and function room and is a great benefit to the people of Burford.