ROYAL RESTORATION
The ground was slowly developed with wooden and corrugated iron fences erected along
the Main Road end and along one side. On the east side a 180ft wooden platform was
constructed over a ditch to allow spectators to stand on that side of the ground. The first
stand was built on the west side in 1899 at a cost of £98.
Both the club and the ground made great strides in those early years with the club reach-
ing the FA Amateur Cup Final in 1899, losing to 1-0 to Stockton in Middlesbrough, and the
Royal Oak being selected to stage the final of the same competition in 1901, when Crook
Town drew 1-1 with Kings Lynn in front of around 3,000 spectators. For that game an
extra section of uncovered seating was added alongside the stand on the west side.
Despite the club’s best efforts to enclose the ground it was common for non-paying specta-
tors to gain a free view of proceedings. An area of raised ground on the east side known
as Jews’ Hill, on an area now covered by Portland Crescent and Portland Avenue, could
reportedly house thousands for big games with the more adventurous utilising an under-
ground conduit running under Main Road from a nearby water source, Bobbit’s Hole, to
enter the ground via the ditch on the east side.
After the end of WW1 a meeting took place at the nearby Spread Eagle pub where £500
was raised to enable the club to purchase the freehold of the ground from the council and
dispel rumours that the ground may be sold off – not for the last time it should be noted.
Around this time the Main Road end was shored up with some huge concrete steps that,
as well as reinforcing the embankment at that end, provided a useful vantage point for
spectators.
More than a decade passed before the next
significant improvements were made to the
Royal Oak. A small parcel of land running
along the east (Popular) side of the ground was
purchased in 1932, allowing the erection of an
8-foot high fence to protect the ground from
the worst of the North Sea winds and the con-
struction of a new covered stand. Within a year
it was joined by a timber and brick pavilion at
the north (Dunn’s) end of the ground. Costing
£400 the pavilion housed home and away
dressing rooms and a committee room. It was
notable for its gabled roof design, sitting off
centre behind the goal at that end of the
ground.
Above: A 1923 map showing the Royal Oak
ground sitting to the south of Main Road.
Note the Borough Hospital to the left
Harwich & Parkeston became founder mem-
bers of the Eastern Counties League at the start
of the 1935/36 season and shortly after the
cover on the Popular Side was replaced with a new wooden cover, measuring 80-foot in
length and featuring tiered wooden benches.
Around the same time thoughts turned to replacing the original grandstand, built in 1899,
with a more modern version. However, due to serious drainage issues with the Royal Oak
pitch all available funds were diverted into the installation of drains under the playing sur-
face, work on the drainage ditch on the east side and moving the pitch slightly southeast.
4
Groundtastic - The Football Grounds Magazine