The Building of the Trumper Pavilion
Gordon District Cricket Club | May 01, 2025
© The Cricket Press Pty Ltd and RL Cardwell.
Image of RH Gordon: Gordon DCC and PR Stephenson
With the growth of club cricket in Sydney suitable grounds and adequate seating accommodation were issues facing all clubs. The Gordon DCC was not alone in the matter with the original pavilion that was built in 1902 and 1903 proving inadequate by 1913. It was around this time that the club began investigating with the Municipality of Willoughby the building of a new pavilion.1 Preliminary steps were undertaken but the outbreak of war in 1914 halted any progress.
On 15 December 1920, a public meeting, presided over by the Mayor of Willoughby, Alderman RT Forsyth, was held in the Willoughby Town Hall at Chatswood. The meeting heard that the objectives were “the improvement of the oval and the erection of a more modern pavilion”.2 In early February 1921 the Council was approached concerning the grounds and the building of a pavilion but the matter was deferred for consideration with the estimates for the works until the following year.3
There was much enthusiasm and support in the club for a new pavilion, however finance was of course one of the issues. On Thursday 24 February 1921 a function was held at the Arcadia Theatre in Chatswood which in part was a recognition and farewell to the Gordon cricketers, Johnny Taylor, Charlie Macartney and club secretary and manager Sydney Smith who had been selected in the Australian team for the 1921 tour of England and South Africa. Over 250 people attended to hear from the players, and Warwick Armstrong and the Australian players. There were many cricketers of note present and when an appeal was made for “funds to assist in building a new pavilion at Chatswood Oval”, the count at the end of the evening saw £153 being subscribed by those attending.
A further ‘Pavilion Fund’ function was held at the Dreadnought Theatre in February 1922 that welcomed home the Gordon players from their successful tour under the leadership of Warwick Armstrong. The force behind the event was Gordon player and committeeman Percy Dive. The sum of £298 was raised from the sale of donated Kodak cameras and photographs taken by Sydney Smith whilst on tour. Many of the images appeared in his book, With the 15th Australian XI, that he wrote following the tour.
Significant work occurred in the winter of 1922 with a small committee comprising Frank Iredale, Percy Dive and Sydney Smith that discussed ideas with architects, engineers and the Willoughby Council. An architect was engaged to draw up some concept plans however his plans were rejected by the council. A new architect was engaged, Mr Henry Harmer, who drew up plans with an estimated construction cost of £2,500. The tenders sought and offered for the construction were significantly in excess of the estimated construction costs and it was decided that Willoughby Council and the Gordon DCC could not proceed with the works.
At the suggestion of Frank Iredale, the former Glebe, North Sydney and Northern District batsman Frank Buckle,4 who had played for New South Wales both in cricket and rugby union, and was a qualified architect, was able to rework the plans and at a reduced cost of £2,000. Willoughby Council approved the amended plans on the condition that the club contribute £500 towards the cost of the work. The club sent £500 to the council on 5 July 1923. The club was also to pay interest5 on the balance of the monies for the construction. A special loan was sought and raised from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia being approved by the Governor of the bank on 5 January 1923.6
With the finance now in place, tenders were called with the quote from Garnet Finlay of £2090 being accepted on the basis that the club would pay the extra £90. Frank Buckle’s architectural firm, Buckle and Carfrae, were formally appointed as architects on 7 December with the building agreement signed off on 11 December 1923.7
The building works moved ahead at a rapid pace with the foundation stones for the new pavilion being laid by the President of the Gordon DCC, Hon RJ Black MLC and Alderman HW Clarke, the Mayor of Willoughby, on 9 February 1924. The ceremony took place during the match between the Gordon DCC and Marrickville DCC. A collection was organised by RT Forsyth which raised £30.
The old pavilion that was at Chatswood Oval was demolished and re-erected in Fullers Park8 as a refreshment kiosk.9
The first official reference to the new pavilion being called the Trumper Pavilion is detailed in the Mayoral Minute Book dated 18 February 1924 which notes
Chatswood Park Pavilion
I have to report having with the Hon RJ Black, MLC, President of the Gordon District Cricket Club laid the foundation stones of the new pavilion on Chatswood Park. Mr Black in his speech made a suggestion that the pavilion might be named ‘Trumper Pavilion’ to commemorate the name of that great Australian cricketer the late Victor Trumper. I regard this suggestion as worthy of adoption and recommend that council approve same.
HW Clarke
Mayor
The new pavilion was described as “an ornate structure” with accommodation for 400 people. It was noted that it would
have separate spacious dressing rooms for the players, with up-to-date lockers and there will be hot and cold showers and kitchen arrangements for the supply of refreshments.
At the Willoughby Council meeting held on 1 September 1924 it was agreed by the council that the purchase of “a suitable pennant for the flagpole on the pavilion [be] left in the Mayor’s hands for attention”.
The Annual Report of the Gordon DCC for the 1923-24 season was full of praise for the club’s First Grade team that won the Sydney First Grade premiership. In reporting on the summer of success it was noted that
[i]t is fitting that in the hour of your Club’s triumph, the efforts of not only those participating in the game, but also of those who have so resolutely and efficiently worked to provide suitable accommodation for players and spectators at Chatswood Oval, should be rewarded.
Encircled by a fair-sized enclosure and with a seating-deck capable of comfortably accommodating 450 spectators, the new pavilion stands as a lasting memorial to those whose untiring energy, both on and off the field, has brought it into being. Your club is honoured that it should be called the Trumper Pavilion after the greatest batsman of our time. From the perspective of both players and spectators, the appointments are certainly unequalled on any suburban ground.10
On 13 September 1924, the Trumper Pavilion was officially opened by Mayor Mr HW Clarke as the club President, Hon RJ Black MLC was unable to attend. Mr RH Gordon (feature image),11 a longtime supporter of the club, unfurled the premiership pennant for winning the First Grade premiership in the 1923-24 season. Mr Gordon also donated an oak table and 14 oak chairs for the club rooms valued at £40. In addressing the large gathering, which possibly had members of the Trumper family present, Gordon, as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald of 15 September 1924, recalled that:
The club won the premiership in 1910-11 and referred to the association of Victor Trumper, Frank Iredale, CG Macartney, BV Shortland and other prominent cricketers with the club. He said there was no game that created good fellowship more than cricket and the pennant had been won by good team work rather than individual effort. Any club that would wrestle the pennant from Gordon would be entitled to it.
It was announced at the opening that, of the £900 required to be contributed by the club, £700 had already been raised.
As the season progressed seating was arranged in the grandstand for scorers to sit and carry out their tasks in full view of the umpires out in the centre. Grade cricket was well reported in the press and facilities were put in place for journalists to sit and prepare their stories for filing with their papers or press agencies using the phone installed in the new pavilion.
On 9 February 1925, the Gordon DCC wrote a letter to Willoughby Council expressing its appreciation to the council for the donation of a pennant bearing the name Trumper Pavilion for use on the new structure.12
With a first-class pavilion, a strong First Grade XI, enthusiastic players in the lower grades of the club, good practice wickets and a much-improved oval, the Gordon DCC was well placed to become a force within the Sydney Grade cricket competition and the Victor Trumper Pavilion was now there overseeing the game that he so enjoyed being a part of.
RONALD CARDWELL
References
1 Gordon DCC 75th Anniversary Report and Annual Report & Balance Sheet 1979-1980, page 3.
2 Ibid, page 11.
3 Willoughby Municipal Council, Miscellaneous Files – 1924/96.
4 Interestingly Frank Buckle was a close friend of Victor Trumper, despite the age difference. They
spent a lot of time together in the period 1910 up until Trumper’s passing. Trumper respected and
appreciated his friendship with Buckle and gave him his gold Sheffield Shield Winners Medal from
the 1904-05 season. Buckle then gave the medal to the former secretary and Executive Director of
the NSWCA, RM (Bob) Radford, who in his will left the medal to the Bradman Museum of Cricket.
5 The interest was to be no more than six per cent per annum as detailed in the Willoughby Municipal
Council Minutes dated 4 September 1922 and was to be paid in advance by the club.
6 Willoughby Municipal Council, Miscellaneous Files 1924/19.
7 Willoughby Municipal Council, Miscellaneous Files 1924/96.
8 Located off Lady Game Drive, Chatswood West.
9 Willoughby Municipal Council, Miscellaneous Files 1924/368.
10 Gordon DCC 75th Annual Report 1923-24, page 3.
11 RH Gordon became the President of the club in 1927 until his death in 1935.
12 The North Shore Times, 8 March 1989, page 18.
