Cavendish Park
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England
Cavendish Park, Barrow-in-Furness, England — opened 1898, 246 rugby league games hosted, home of None (Barrow relocated in 1914; club now Barrow Raiders, at Craven Park/the Speed Competitions Stadium).
Sourcing caveat: Attendance figures for Cavendish Park are inconsistent between sources: Wikipedia's Barrow Raiders article cites roughly 12,000 for the 28 March 1908 Challenge Cup tie against Hunslet, while the portion of Rugby League Project's results checked here (the first 200 of 246 matches, running through the 1905/06 season) shows a lower recorded high of 6,000 for an earlier, different fixture (Lancashire v Cumberland, 11 January 1902) — the 1908 match falls outside that checked range, so the two figures are not necessarily in conflict, but the 12,000 figure has only been corroborated by one source and is given here without independent confirmation. This is a distinct ground from Barrow's later grounds Little Park (1914-1931) and Craven Park/the Speed Competitions Stadium (1931-present), both already covered separately in this directory.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1898 (1898 marks the earliest rugby league (Northern Union) fixture found, per Rugby League Project (26 February 1898, Barrow v Dalton, Challenge Cup). The ground itself was in rugby football use by Barrow considerably earlier — from an inaugural match in 1875, and as the club's settled home from 1883 — predating the 1895 Northern Union split; the 1898 date reflects the start of the ground's rugby league (as opposed to rugby football generally) history.) |
| Home club | None (Barrow relocated in 1914; club now Barrow Raiders, at Craven Park/the Speed Competitions Stadium) |
| Closed | 1914 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 246 |
| Top recorded crowd | 7,500 |
| First rugby league match | 26 February 1898 — Barrow 13-3 Dalton, Challenge Cup 1897/98 (per Rugby League Project) |
| Last rugby league match | Barrow left Cavendish Park in 1914 when the ground was requisitioned by the authorities for wartime use, relocating to Little Park in Roose |
| Years used | 1898–1914 |
| Location | Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria |
Name history
- Cavendish Park — 1883-1914 (Barrow's home ground; on Barrow Island)
Rugby league history
Cavendish Park, on Barrow Island, was Barrow's home ground from 1883 (chosen over the club's previous Parade Ground pitch for its superior playing surface) through to 1914. The club built its first grandstand there in 1887 and a second in 1893. Its best-known rugby league crowd came on 28 March 1908, when around 12,000 attended a Challenge Cup tie against Hunslet — nearly double the club's previous recorded attendance. Barrow left Cavendish Park in 1914 after wartime authorities requisitioned the site, moving three miles out to Little Park in Roose, where they resumed as a strong wartime-era side before eventually settling at Craven Park (today's Speed Competitions Stadium) from 1931.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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