Canberra Croquet Club

Hostel No. 1 (later the Hotel Canberra, now the Hyatt Hotel Canberra) opened in 1925 with a bowling green and a croquet lawn as amenities for its guests.  The croquet lawn is on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Coronation Drive.  It was originally sheltered by a hedge.

In 1928 the women-only Canberra Croquet Club was established, and initially shared the lawns with hotel guests.  Within the year, one lawn was insufficient and it was divided in two.  After the Canberra Bowling Club moved to new facilities in Forrest in 1931, the Croquet Club also took over the bowling green, on the north-western side of the hotel, until it was demolished for a car park in 1969.  The two lawns near the clubhouse were then enlarged and rearranged into three.  Men were admitted to membership of the club in 1976.

The Club, with its lawns, was separate from the hotel but used hotel facilities until the clubhouse was built in 1933.  This building has been only slightly altered from its original structure, mainly by adding the front verandah and the open porch.  The flag pole was one of those erected in front of Old Parliament House for its opening in 1927, and was donated in 1967 to replace the original ‘bush pole’.  The green and gold Club flag was first hoisted on 22 April 1950.

The Club remains the only croquet club in Canberra, although there have been lawns available for unofficial play at the Lodge and Mt Stromlo.  Due to the scarcity of grass courts in Canberra, during the mid 1930s the Club’s lawns were used for occasional tennis demonstration matches, and the Club has from time to time used the Old Parliament House bowling green and grass tennis courts during its tournaments or when its lawns are undergoing refurbishment.

The property is owned by the ACT Government and leased to the Canberra Croquet Club Inc.  In 1987, the Club was granted tenure of the site, and in 1994 the clubhouse and grounds were listed on the Heritage Places Register.

VIEW ONLINE 

Australian Capital Territory Interim Heritage Places Register: Canberra Croquet Club House and Lawns.
Lyneham, ACT: ACT Heritage Council, 1993.
ACTHL Location: H 711.4099471 AUST Yarralumla

REQUEST BOOK 

A History of the Canberra Croquet Club Inc. 1928-98. Yarralumla, ACT: Canberra Croquet Club Inc, 2000.
ACTHL Location: H 796.3540609471 HIST

Canberra Croquet Club.
Records [manuscript]. [1945-1991].
ACTHL Location:  HMSS 0084

VIEW ONLINE 

Canberra Croquet Club website

Gugler, Ann.
‘Glimpses of Early Canberra: The Hotel Canberra (The men who built it and the people who used it)’. Trust News, February 1996, pp. 16-18
ACTHL Location: H 720.9947 TRUS