West Brompton

The West Brompton Rink is probably one of the least known but most important roller rinks in the history of roller speed skating within Great Britain. But before we get onto the rink we should look at the history that precedes it and how it came about.

In the mid 1870’s roller skating was in its first boom period and was beginning to become fashionable all over the country. Rinks had started to open and races were becoming commonplace, albeit without any formal governing body to administer them.

In West Brompton was a sports ground, Lillie Bridge Sports Ground, that consisted of a pavilion, grandstand and a 440 yard (400 metres) asphalt track. Primarily the track was used for athletics and cycling but by 1876 roller skating was introduced as another popular pastime. It remained so for another ten years but on 19th September 1887 all that changed.

There was to be a scheduled running (sprinting) competition between two athletes over 120 yards. These athletes were well known (Hutchens and Gent) and were, in fact, considered world class. Such was their draw that a crowd numbering almost 5000 turned up to witness the contest. The athletes paraded the grounds and there seemed nothing untoward until suddenly it was reported that neither athlete was any longer present and both had left. In effect the race was called off. The crowd suddenly rioted demanding their money back and such was the ill feeling that they burned down the pavilion, wrecked the ground and also ripped up parts of the track.

It is said that the reason the athletes left was because one bookmaker realised he was to lose a substantial amount of money and employed “heavies” to threaten the athletes and get them to cancel the race. The threats had the desired effect of the race being cancelled but few could have foreseen the aftermath. As a result the grounds were permanently closed.

Shortly afterwards the grounds were redeveloped and a number of new buildings were erected, one of these being the West Brompton Rink immediately opposite West Brompton Station.

Roller skating was still popular and races still commonplace up and down the country. Although the National Skating Association (NSA) had been formed in 1879 it was still only interested in ice skating, however, by 1892 the founder of the NSA, James Drake-Digby, suggested that roller skating should also be incorporated. A set of rules was drafted but it would be another year before the NSA took roller skating under its wing and became formally recognised as the governing body for the sport of roller speed skating.

The West Brompton Rink was already well known to the NSA who frequented the rink and often dished out prizes. When it became known that the NSA wished to incorporate roller skating, the City of London Amateur Athletic Association became the first to run an event using the NSA rules that were developed a year earlier. It approached the Metropolitan branch of the NSA and asked that they run this event as a formal championship. They agreed and the first recognised NSA championship event was held at the West Brompton Rink on 29th December 1893.

The event consisted of teams of five skaters. Skaters would be drawn against a skater from another team and they would skate off in pairs over the distance of one mile. Once all skaters had taken part the times were added together and the team with the lowest aggregate was declared the winner. In this case it was the Ravensbourne club and the trophy awarded was the Benetfink Challenge Cup. T.Allen of Ravensbourne was also awarded a gold medal for posting the fastest time.

The West Brompton Rink, therefore, was not only the venue for the very first race under NSA rules but it was also the venue for the very first event recognised as a championship. This championship, however, was a team championship and it would be the only time the event was ever raced. The trophy would later be assigned to another championship event just a few months later. But that’s another story.

The West Brompton Rink continued to hold races over the next few years but none of them were ever classed as championships and few, if any were recognised as NSA events. Roller speed skating was very much in its infancy and was still finding its feet as a sport.

By 1900 the roller skating craze had gone into decline. Whilst it would come back with renewed vigour a decade later the West Brompton Rink would not witness that revival. It appeared that many of the races were now being held at the Crystal Palace rink and many local rinks, with one or two exceptions, were closing their doors. West Brompton was one of them.

In 1902 the building was obtained by a certain Charles Rolls which became his first motor showroom under the company name of C.S.Rolls Ltd. He renamed the building Lillie Hall and from here he would sell imported French Peugeot and Belgian Minerva vehicles. Four years later he would team up with Henry Royce and together they would found the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Although other premises were later acquired the old rink still continued to act as car workshop for Rolls-Royce until finally, in 1968, it closed for good.

No photos are known to exist of its time as a roller rink but there are one or two when it was a garage. Despite the building being full of cars you can still get a feel for how it may have looked with a maple floor and a brace of Victorian skaters whizzing around the boards.

The area has since been redeveloped beyond all recognition. Luxury flats now occupy the site just a stones throw from Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea Football Club. It is an almost certainty that none of the residents will know the history, or that that beneath them are the foundations of a building that set the sport of roller speed skating on its way within Great Britain.