Prior to 2023, there existed two local cricket clubs that provided Saturday league cricket to Wells and its surrounding villages - Wells Cricket Club, founded in 1834, and Horrington Cricket Club, founded in 1929. For a long time, Wells CC was based in the centre of Wells, before relocating in the mid 90s to South Horrington - very close to Horrington CC, who had been based at Chapel Piece since their inception.
As long as the living memory recalls, there had been a fierce local rivalry between these two clubs, played out through many years of highly competitive league cricket. Through triumph and turmoil, promotions and relegations through the Somerset Cricket Leagues saw Horrington CC's sole league team settle into a division between Wells CC's 1st and 2nd teams, and several years of not playing against each other in competitive cricket meant relations between the two clubs settled into a more friendly rivalry.
The post-covid environment brought differing fortunes to these local neighbourly rivals, seeing a large boost to the senior membership of Wells CC, whilst Horrington CC suffered from the covid situation, with a number of key players moved away due to their own circumstances changing. This unfortunately left Horrington CC in the situation of requesting loaned players from Wells CC, which was gladly provided - nobody likes to see a team struggle to compete, and due to being in different leagues, the clubs were not in direct competition.
After a season of Wells CC regularly loaning players to Horrington CC, a difficult but possibly inevitable meeting quietly took place in a pub in Wells - a neutral venue for a conversation that changed the face of cricket in the local area.
As a result of this meeting, both clubs called upon their membership for emergency meetings, and independently from each other, both clubs voted for a merger. After this momentous, both committees worked together, and as quickly as due diligence allowed, Wells and Horrington Cricket Club was formed over the winter of 2022 into 2023.
From the first emergency meeting between the newly combined membership, when the club was officially formed, nobody has looked back, and our club has gone from strength to strength, the culmination of over 300 years worth of cricketing experience and community service.
We are proud to offer both competitive and friendly cricket for all ages, genders and abilities and Disability Champion Cricket Club
As a merged club, we have two cricket grounds set at the base of the Mendip Hills, providing high quality playing surfaces with picturesque backdrops.
In South Horrington, between Wells Golf Club and the repurposed Old Mendip Hospital, sits Old School Lane - the former home ground of Wells CC, serving as the primary training ground and base for Wells and Horrington CC, with all squad training happening across weekday evenings, as well as hosting first and second eleven fixtures on Saturday afternoons. We also have a hireable function room and bar area at this facility.
A little under a mile further up the Old Frome Road, Chapel Piece can be found - the home ground of Horrington CC from their founding in 1929 to the merger in 2023. This ground is used by the third playing eleven on a Saturday, and several junior sides during the week.
Wells and Horrington Cricket Club is on of the largest clubs in the Mendip area, and we are proud to provide cricketing opportunities for those aged 5 all the way through to 16 in our junior section, we have a growing women's section, mixed age and gender friendly cricket and inter-club games throughout the summer, and three senior teams playing on Saturdays.
We have a large junior section, spanning from All Stars aged 5 through to Under 16’s, who compete in the Mid-Wessex Junior leagues and their relevant age group cups.
Each age group gets dedicated training sessions throughout the week included in their membership bundle, provided by qualified and experienced coaches, aimed at developing skills and taking their ability to the next level. There is plenty of opportunity to play in their respective league and cup fixtures. Junior teams are also frequently entered into shorter format festivals, which mostly take place during the summer holidays, once the junior leagues have ended.
Since the merging of our clubs in 2023, our women's team have gone from strength to strength, both in terms of the squad's growth and also their achievements. The main focus of this section is to engage women of all ages, of all ages and abilities, and to provide a safe and accessible sporting opportunity for those members of our community.
Until recently, this playing space was made possible by participating in the Somerset Cricket Foundation's softball pairs league, where our squad gained valuable knowledge and experience in a competitive but relaxed environment. Through the tireless work of our coaches and players, and with great successes in trial runs of the format, we hope to take the level of our women's cricket to the next tier, by participating in the Somerset Cricket Foundation's softball T20 league.
The aim of our junior age group development program is to equip our juniors with the best skills we can give them, in the pursuit of them playing in our competitive senior cricket sides. We have three such sides playing in the Somerset Cricket Leagues on Saturday afternoons with our first and second teams play at Old School Lane, with our third team playing at Chapel Piece.
As well as competitive teams, we also play mid week friendly games most weeks against local teams, and play several inter-club games in different formats - a new format we have introduced is a tape ball, a quick and social format.
Old School Lane is a bustling venue, with bookings in our club house throughout many summer days, training almost every evening from late March to September, and hosting our first and second playing eleven's on Saturdays.
Our club house is available to hire, with room for up to 30 people seated at tables, or a capacity of 40 mingling around the club room and bar area.
A sound system is available in the club house, usable through a standard 3.5mm audio connection (the same as wired headphones), making our venue ideal for small-to-medium sized parties..
We also have a large screen TV, as well as a ceiling mounted projector, meaning we can provide a meeting space suitable for up to 25 people, based on the layout of tables and what equipment is being used.
To discuss options, arrange hire, or enquire further, please contact the committee by email: wellsandhorringtoncc@gmail.com
We have a twin-lane net facility installed on the east side of our Old School Lane ground, which is available for members to hire throughout the week, both during the day and on certain evenings.
Members need to use the below link to book and pay for the usage of these nets.
Wells and Horrington Cricket Club - SumUp Bookings - Explore services
For insurance reasons, please pay attention the the following:
During the day, when our clubhouse will be closed, there is no access to a first aid kit.
Please also consider that there is also a footpath that passes behind the bowler's runups area, so members using these nets need to be mindful of people crossing behind the bowler's arm. It is the duty of the net users to make sure nobody gets hit or injured whilst walking passed
Our committee members are all volunteers, who kindly dedicate their time to help facilitate cricket and social activities across the club. Members of the Committee can normally be found around our ground at Old School Lane, ensuring activities run smoothly, and will be more than happy to discuss anything with you - whether this be as a perspective player, a parent of a new or existing junior member, or a member of the public.
If you are unable to find the member you would like to speak to, or have a broader enquiry, please contact the committee as a whole on the following email: WellsandHorringtonCC@gmail.com
For existing club members, all committee members are contactable through Teamo.
Chairperson
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Head Coach
Captain - Womens teams
Captain - 1st Team
Captain - 2nd team
Captain - 3rd Team
Captain - Mid-week and Friendly teams
Safeguarding leader
Safeguarding Assistant
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member
Our Partners
We will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
