The Oval Enlarged and Improved — Surrey Invest in England's Second Ground, 1855

The Oval had been leased from the Duchy of Cornwall by Surrey since 1845, when the ground was converted from a market garden. By 1855 the original lease was expiring and the question of the ground's future arose. Surrey, flush with success as Champion County and with a growing membership, renegotiated a twenty-one-year extension on favourable terms. They used the opportunity to re-lay the playing surface — the original market-garden soil was uneven and slow — to add banking around the perimeter for standing spectators, and to improve the rudimentary pavilion. The resulting ground could accommodate 20,000 spectators and provided a surface fast enough for the professional bowlers of the day. The Oval became the standard venue for the Gentlemen v Players fixture when Lord's was unavailable, for Surrey home matches, and for representative South of England sides. In 1880 it hosted England's first home Test match; in 1882 Spofforth's Australia won there to produce the Ashes. All of that history rested on the lease renewal and improvements of 1855.