This oval opened in 1903 and was originally named Hampden Park Oval in honour of Viscount Hampden, the Governor of New South Wales in the late 1890s.
At its opening there was a great surge of community feeling - the owners of produce stores gave bags of potatoes, butchers in the district gave a sheep each, bakers gave bread and grocers gave jams and tea. A bullock was roasted whole and various games were held, including a fancy dress cricket match. One of the cricketers playing was Victor Trumper, who was raised in Paddington Street.
Victor Trumper was the greatest Australian batsman before Bradman. He scored 292 in a day against Tasmania in 1898, racked up a century in under an hour against Victoria in 1906 and scored over 201 against South Australia in 1913. The name of the park was changed to Trumper Park Oval in 1931 to honour Victor Trumper.
The oval received a $1.1 million upgrade in 2012 to improve the ground and playing facilities.
Cricket matches are still held at Trumper Park Oval on a regular basis, and Australian football has been played here for more than 110 years.
This cache contains a communal drawing and story for you to shape, in the spirit of the oval’s opening back in 1903. BYO pens & pencils!