Our History...
In 1919, the workforce at Cadburys was around 7500 and so work began by Bournville Village Trust to develop 75 acres at Row Heath Farm into a sports ground.
At its opening in 1924, Rowheath Pavilion was central to the sports and park complex. Designed by John Ramsay Armstrong, it occupies the highest part of the playing fields. 145 foot long, the Italianate pavilion was designed to serve many purposes.
It provided Changing rooms to serve the sports people who made use of the 14 football, 13 cricket, 4 hockey and two rugby pitches, 31 tennis courts, two bowling greens, two croquet lawns, an athletics track, clock golf and a boating and fishing lake.
The Terrace Room has always been central to entertainment at Rowheath, being used for work dinner and balls.
Family entertainment at weekend included musical performances from Cadburys bands, using the two Bandstands.
In 1937 a modernist lido was added to Rowheath which proved extremely popular until the seventies.
The Lido was closed in the seventies, due to the Health and Safety regulations and noise issues. The range of sport reduced to football, rugby, hockey and road running. It became a struggle to keep Rowheath Pavilion open and it was forced to close for a while in the eighties. The Lido site and a further 65 acres was sold off for housing development. The bandstands disappeared through vandalism and the park area became disused and overgrown.
Since Trinity Christian Centre were assigned the lease, the park has become a popular family destination again, the Pavilion is popular with local community groups for all ages and football, rugby and running continue to thrive.
Part of Rowheath Pavilion became a listed building in 2017, a sign of its importance to the local community.
