Ten Pin Bowling, Victorian Style

By · January 25, 2010 at 13:24 pm · No comments · Latest News · Report an error ·

Sir Henry Cooper is over in Acton today to toast the 50th anniversary of ten-pin bowling in the UK. The boxing legend was one of the first people to ‘introduce’ the pastime to a now rapt British public back in 1960, when Tenpin Lanes opened in Stamford Hill.

There were antecedents, however. As with most things in life, the Victorians got there first. The beautiful bowling alley pictured above is hidden away beneath the eastern wing of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The twin lanes are roughly 150 years old, and were used to keep the ancient seamen active (no jokes, please). The balls are wooden, with no finger holes, and take a sturdy back to lift. If the place looks a little creepy, it’s worth noting that this is a former morgue. It’s said that Nelson’s body rested in this room before his funeral.

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  • http://undefined Peter Gasston

    My local pub had a lane like this when I was growing up; it’s Skittles.

  • http://www.victorianlondon.org lee jackson

    I’m no expert on the difference, but 1860s alleys are not necessarily skittles. They could be so-called ‘American Bowling Alleys’. Here’s a quote

    “In the town, bowling alleys were abolished in the last century, and gave rise to long-bowling, or bowling in a narrow inclosure at nine-pins upon a square frame. They have been succeeded by the American bowling-alley, sometimes in the cellar of the tavern.” John Timbs, Curiosities of London, 1867 edition

    See also this quote, contrasting the two …

    “a dry skittle-ground with plenty of sawdust and one gas jet, and the pins and balls (like wooden Dutch cheeses) painted on the door-jambs … an American Bowling Alley, with more mahogany, more gilding, more ground-glass shades to the gas-burners, more crimson-covered benches, a scorer or marker, who played tricks with a grand mahogany board like a railway time-table instead of using the old legitimate chalk, and a flaring transparency outside, representing General Washington playing skittles with Doctor Franklin” George Sala, Gaslight and Daylight, 1859

    There was a fad for all things American in the 1860s, including bowling and cocktails.

    lee@victorianlondon.org

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