120 Years of the United Croquet Club was celebrated on 26 July 2025 with cake and champagne at the clubrooms. Our Patron Roger Murfitt said a few words and Marlene Smith, our oldest member, cut the cake.

Below is a snapshot of the history of the United Croquet Club taken from the book “United Bowling, Tennis and Croquet Club 1905-2005”, edited by Peter J Oaks. This book can be borrowed from our library.

The 1873 minutes of the Canterbury Board referred to the already established archery and croquet clubs. A couple of years later the Board considered a request from the Archery and Croquet Clubs to be allowed to use a piece of ground within the domain and were offered a piece of land to the rear of the museum.

At the Canterbury Board meeting on 10 April 1905 consideration was given to a request from Croquet, Bowls and Tennis to lease combined grounds and on 12 June 1905 permission was granted to use three and a half acres in the north park, an area bounded by Riccarton Avenue and the Wellingtonias. Two bowls, two croquet and six tennis courts were laid out. This was the start of the United Clubs.

A pavilion for the use of the three clubs was built in around 1906. By 1919 the leased area had expanded to six acres. In 1959 the three clubs went their separate ways, the United Croquet Club become an Incorporated Society on 19 October 1959.

The pavilion continued to be managed by a combined committee. Christchurch City Council minutes of 30 August 1977 discussed the problem of the pavilion, which was extremely dilapidated, unsound and infected with borer; the clubs were left to decide its future. On 1 July 1979 the pavilion was burnt down, much equipment and many records and memorabilia were lost. Two new clubrooms were built in 1983, the Bowls-Croquet clubroom was opened on 17 September 1983; the croquet part of the clubroom was extended in 2002.