Earl of Lucan visits Laleham

On a blustery Sunday morning George Bingham, the 8th Earl of Lucan, attended the Remembrance Church Service at All Saints’ Church, Laleham followed by the annual Act of Remembrance around the village War Memorial. Afterwards, accompanied by his wife and children, he made his way to the Lucan Pavilion at Laleham Recreation Ground to unveil a plaque on the side of the Pavilion. The blue plaque was to commemorate the 100 years since his great grandfather the Right Honourable George Charles Bingham, the 5th Earl of Lucan, gifted the land on which the Pavilion is located to the Parish of Laleham. Much of the land in and around the village of Laleham became a holding of the Lucan family after the purchase of the Manor of Laleham by the 2rd Earl in 1803. The Lucan family were considerable benefactors to the village and, by a Deed of Gift dated 10 March1923, land was given to the civil Parish Council ‘for the purpose of a Recreation Ground for the use and enjoyment and benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Laleham’. The origin of the gift was a petition for the provision of a recreation ground, signed by 174 residents and submitted to the Parish Council in 1919. Lord Lucan subse-quently made the land available and it first came into use as a recreation ground in 1920. From its founding, Laleham Recreation Ground has been a charity, administered by Trustees and managed by an elected Committee. It was the Trustees of the Laleham Charities who commis-sioned the centenary plaque. The Recreation Ground currently hosts youth and senior football matches and coaching evenings. It is the venue of regular Village Fairs and occasional events which have included beer festivals and an open-air cinema.