The Royal legacy that made Devon a healthier place

Exeter has one, and it was opened by the Queen in 1956. Torquay has one and so does Plymouth. There’s one in Bideford, one in Exmouth, one in Moretonhampstead, one in Sandford and one in Shaldon.

London has dozens, there’s one in Australia and you can even find them in Barbados, the Falkland Islands, Malta, Nigeria and Yemen. Oh, and Gunnislake has one too.

But why are there so many King George V playing fields, why are they named after the King, and who paid for them?

In fact there are more than 470 King George V Playing Fields in the UK, currently protected by an organisation called Fields In Trust. You can spot them by their special plaques or entrance gates, designed to give them an appropriate air of grandeur.

The smallest ones are tiny city parks less than a quarter of an acre in size. The largest stretch to more than 100 acres.

According to the National Playing Fields Association, which is now known as Fields In Trust, a committee was set up after the death of King George V in 1936 to consider an appropriate memorial to the late Monarch.

It was decided a philanthropic scheme which would benefit the entire country should be associated with the King’s name and in November 1936 the King George’s Fields Foundation was set up, to be chaired by Clement Atlee until he became Prime Minister in 1945.

Fields In Trust says the project was established in response to the increasing urbanisation of Britain, and concern about the lack of open spaces. The aim was ‘to promote and assist in the establishment of playing fields for the use and enjoyment of the people’.

Grants would be provided towards the establishment of playing fields across the UK, with each to be named King George’s Field with heraldic panels or appropriate signage to commemorate the late King.

There was also a suggestion that every child should be asked to contribute one penny towards the project, meaning they would each have a sense of ownership of the fields as they were created.

Between the opening of the scheme in March 1937 and the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 a total of 1,800 preliminary applications were received, of which 462 were approved. Many were abandoned following the war, but alternative locations were approved in a number of cases and by 1950 all the funds had been allocated.

By the end of 1965 a total of 471 spaces across the UK had been established and grants in excess of £600,000 had been distributed. The total capital costs to all bodies concerned came to more than £4 million.

Many of the ‘KGV’ playing fields in the UK are legally protected from development in perpetuity, and are safeguarded by Fields in Trust through a legal covenant which says they must be used for public recreation.

While protected from housing developments, they can still be improved with new sports facilities.

Ten years ago the local golf club was eyeing the sloping King George V fields on the outskirts of Torquay for an ambitious expansion, but dropped its plans after facing fierce public opposition.

In Exeter, a £4million project is currently under way to expand and improve the sports facilities at the King George V fields off Topsham Road.