 | ||
Grove Sports Stadium is a 20th-century large sports stadium/field on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated within The Grove village, and is owned by the prison service; the nearby HM Prison Portland. It is found north-west of St. Peter's Church, and was created within an abandoned and disused quarry.
History
HM Prison Portland had been an adult convict establishment since its opening in 1848. In 1921 the prison became a borstal institution. During the late 1920s, the borstal's governor H. Scott proposed the transformation of a nearby disused convict quarry into a sports stadium. The project started in 1931, and was completed by 1936, using the borstal inmates as labour."
The first sports day took place on 1 August 1936, with the public able to spectate. Over the following decades the stadium continued to hold Borstal-related sporting events, the last being the Foundation Day Sports event of 1975. The prison, now a Young Offenders Institution, continues to own the stadium, who have allowed local schools to use the pitch in the past. In recent years Portland United F.C. have continued to use and maintain the stadium.