Description

1906. Single storey, 5-bay rectangular-plan, timber boarded bowling pavilion with chamfered square-plan supports and timber railings to veranda along principal elevation. Plain bargeboards.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: Boarded door in bays 2, 4 and 5 (from left). Chamfered corner to right. Windows to centre and outer left bays. N (REAR) ELEVATION: window in slightly advanced bay to outer left. W (SIDE) ELEVATION: window set to right.

Timber-framed windows with top-hung upper lights. Corrugated-iron cat-slide roof; cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: largely intact. Locker room: timber boarded with full height fitted, numbered equipment lockers to each side; individual jack corner display shelving to SE angle. E Room with display cabinets, shelves and timber benches and metal hooks.

Statement of Interest

A largely intact early 20th century timber bowling clubhouse situated beside the Earl's Palace in Kirkwall. Mackay describes the clubhouse as 'well appointed'. The interior is lined with rows of numbered and labelled square timber lockers. Fitted display cabinets, shelves and timber benches remain in place. The reverse of the second entrance door retains its original enamelled lane markers and holders.

Lawn bowls has a long and distinguished history and remains a hugely popular sport. The earliest reference to the game in Scotland appeared in 1469, when James IV played a variation of the game referred to as 'lang bowlis' at St Andrews in Fife. The first public bowling green in Scotland was laid out in 1669 at Haddington, near Edinburgh, however it was not until 1864 that the rules of the modern game were committed to writing by William Mitchell of Glasgow in his Manual of Bowl-Playing. Machine manufactured standard bowls were invented by Thomas Taylor Ltd, also of Glasgow, in 1871 and the Scottish Bowling Association was formed in 1892. The advent of indoor bowling also began in Scotland around 1879. Today there are around 900 clubs in Scotland with an estimated 90,000 active lawn bowls players.

Change of statutory address and list description updated as part of the sporting buildings thematic study (2012-13). Previously listed as 'Kirkwall, Bowling Green, Bowling Pavilion'.

The clubhouse sits within the scheduled area boundary of the Earl's Palace (see Scheduled Ancient Monument Number 90194) but the above-ground clubhouse structure is excluded from the scheduling.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77773593

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
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  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair