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Facilities

As befitting one of the top hockey clubs in the country Chelmsford Hockey Club possess top class facilities at Chelmer Park, but it has taken an immense amount of time, effort and money to get to this stage.

Having played at various venues in the Chelmsford area, including Springfield, the club moved to New Writtle Street in the 1922/23 season to share the County Cricket Ground with Chelmsford Cricket Club.

The move to our present location at Chelmer Park came about in the 1971/72 season just after the formation of Chelmsford Sports Club.

The Sports Club was formed to allow the three member clubs (Chelmsford Hockey Club, Chelmsford Ladies Hockey Club and Chelmsford Cricket Club) to share the newly built Clubhouse. While the pitches and pavilion at Chelmer Park were officially opened on 21st March, 1971 by the Mayor of Chelmsford, Alderman D A Bellamy, it was not until 23rd April, 1972 that the Clubhouse was officially opened.

The first major development after the opening of Chelmer Park was the laying of a sand-based artificial grass pitch in 1989. The pitch was a joint venture between the Chelmsford Hockey Clubs (Men and Ladies) and Chelmsford Borough Council, and was officially opened on 26 November 1989 by the Mayor, Councillor Jean Norton, with an exhibition game against Havant H C.

After several years of heavy use, the sand-based pitch was re-laid in 2002 as the first phase of a major development plan that was to provide Chelmsford Hockey Club with some of the best facilities in the country. The £1.6 million development was a partnership between Chelmsford Hockey Club, Chelmsford Borough Council and Sport England.

Phase two was the laying of a state-of-the-art water-based artificial pitch in the summer of 2003 and this was swiftly followed a few months later by the completion of a major clubhouse extension to provide a dedicated hockey block comprising changing rooms, meeting room, office and treatment room. The facilities were officially opened Sunday, 18th April, 2004 by the Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr. John Hunnable.