| Ground Name: | Clifton Villa Estate |
| Country: | England |
| Location: | Cliftonville, Margate, Kent |
| Coordinates: | (approx.) |
| Establishment: | 1864 (first recorded match) |
| Year1: | 1864 |
| Club1: | Kent County Cricket Club |
| Date: | 10 August |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/621.html CricketArchive |
Clifton Villa Estate, also known as New Cricket Ground,[1] was a cricket ground in the Cliftonville area of the town of Margate in Kent. The only first-class cricket match played on the ground was between Kent County Cricket Club and Sussex County Cricket Club in July 1864.[2] The ground was leased from the Cliftonville Estate from July to October to be used for cricket,[3] although only one other match is known to have taken place on the ground. This took place in the same year and was a non-first-class match between a Margate team and the United All-England Eleven.[4]
The ground was built on farmland on the eastern outskirts of Margate. It was only in existence for a short time with the land being built on soon after 1864 as Margate and Cliftonville experienced a rapid expansion following the arrival of the railway in the area.[3] [5] It was probably located in the area of the modern Dalby Square in Cliftonville.[6] This was originally known as Ethelbert Square and was developed as a residential area from 1865.[7] [8] [9] [10] The large Cliftonville Hotel was built in 1868 on what was described as "an island site in the middle of corn fields"[11] to become Margate's "first grand hotel". Grass tennis courts and a croquet lawn were laid out in Dalby Square Gardens from at least 1885 and today the area is laid out as ornamental gardens.[12]
Kent teams had played first-class matches on Dandelion Paddock in the Garlinge area to the west of Margate in the 1790s before the establishment of the first county club in 1842.[13]