Sport was certainly an important part of life for the girls who attended the school at St Mary’s Priory. But as well as fully embracing traditional ‘girls’ games’ such as tennis and hockey, the Priory was relatively ahead of its time in offering some more unexpected sports options.

The earliest issue of the school magazine Peeps of Princethorpe held in our collections, dated 1902, contains several references to the girls playing cricket, including a particularly exciting match which was played during a Tournament of Games that summer. Alumna Mollie Brown, who attended the school from 1896-1900, recalled in the 1960 edition of the magazine that cricket had been introduced during her time there; she remembered that ‘we used to cut the crease with a pair of scissors!'

Although women’s cricket clubs had started to form in England by this point, only a few schools were willing to offer the sport to girls initially. Some still deemed it an unsuitable activity for young ladies, at least until women’s cricket became more officially established in the 1920s, but the Priory’s forward-thinking approach allowed its pupils to enjoy the sport in both lessons and recreation time. 

Another surprisingly early reference in the Peeps of Princethorpe magazines is to ‘basket-ball’, which is mentioned in the 1906-1907 issue as being a favourite sport among the younger year groups. Women’s basketball was a relative newcomer to England, having only been introduced in the 1890s, with netball subsequently developing as a modified version of the game. At Princethorpe, it was seen as a good alternative when rain stopped play on the hockey field; again, it seems that the Priory was keen to explore new sporting opportunities to help its schoolgirls keep active and enjoy playing together as a team, whatever the weather!

Basketball and cricket have continued to feature in the sporting line up here at Princethorpe all the way through to the modern day. 

Images: 

Cover. Tennis semi-final 1928, cycling lesson, and skipping, Peeps of Princethorpe 1929 

1. Report on the Tournament of Games, Peeps of Princethorpe 1902 

2. Games Report, Peeps of Princethorpe 1906-1907 

3. Cricket Report, Peeps of Princethorpe 1913 

4. Cricket XI, Peeps of Princethorpe 1925