Victoria Park Track

Salisbury

Victoria Park Track

Victoria Park
Castle Road
SALISBURY

Telephone: 01722 336689
Fax:

Email:
Website:

Type: Cinder (no longer exists - track removed), 400m/440y, lanes, lane straight

Authority: Wiltshire
Ceremonial County: Wiltshire

NUTS Name: Salisbury (VP)

Electronic Map Links:
Multimap 1:10,000 (Street Level)
Multimap 1:25,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:50,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:100,000 (Road Level)
Multimap 1:200,000 (Road Level)
Streetmap (Street Level)
Streetmap (Area Level)
Streetmap (Road Map)

OS National Grid Reference: SU 142314
National Grid Reference: 414200, 131400

Paper Maps:
OS Explorer Map: 130
OS Pathfinder Map: 1241
Red Book Salisbury & Wilton 8 D4
Red Book Wiltshire 34 D4

Train: Salisbury

Pictures: Please browse the selection here.

The display of inline maps of track locations is no longer
a free service and so has had to be withdrawn

Please use the Electronic Map links

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Please contact Tim Grose

Click the picture for a larger view
Click here to see the list of pictures for this track.

Other Info:
This was Salisbury's track prior to the opening of the synthetic one at Salisbury Leisure Centre. It was reported to be quite badly rutted and was around the football pitch which was used by the first team of Salisbury City FC until 1997 and junior sides since then. It is thought that the track was grassed over in the early to mid 1990s. Victoria Park was purchased by public subscription and opened in 1887 and a slightly irregular oval is shown on an 1901 OS map but is denoted as a cycle track so it may have been a dual purpose track. In 1913, the cycle track was described as excellent in a Salisbury handbook. There is a picture of the original pavilion during the sports in 1902 which celebrated Edward VII's Coronation in the book Salisbury In Old Photographs by Peter Saunders and there is definitely some sort of track in front of it. Another picture of the same meeting in the same book shows a 6 lane sprint straight on the grass infield but these were commonly used in those days as the tracks were often quite narrow and this one seems to have been no more than 4 modern lanes wide. This same shaped oval is still shown on current maps and there is a line of trees around the pitch which seems to follow this same course and so the track must have been inside them. The pavilion was demolised in 1999 but a new one, directly opposite it, opened in 2001. The site for the new pavilion, on the "back" straight, is also where, until about the mid 1990s, there was covered stand and covered terracing either side. In 1999 the pitch was floodlit but the pylons were removed in 2000. The only sign of a track today is a narrow path down the "home" straight which runs in front of the site of the old pavilion. A world record for a Marathon was apparently set on the track in the late 1920s or early 1930s although have not been able to verify this.

Last update: 24/11/2000

Please send any amendments to Tim Grose