Craven Cottage

Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It has been the home ground of Fulham F.C. since 1896. The ground's current capacity is 25,700, all-seated, though the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against Millwall Dockers, 8 October 1938. Located next to Bishop's Park on the banks of the River Thames, 'Craven Cottage' was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back over 300 years.

As well as by Fulham, the stadium has been also been used by the United States men's national football team,Australia national football team, the Republic of Ireland national football team, and Canada men's national football team, and was formerly the home ground for rugby league team Fulham RLFC.

History

Pre-Fulham

The original 'Cottage' was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven and was located on the centre circle of the pitch. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn's hunting grounds.

The Cottage was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist among Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are reputed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall (including a temporary stay at Loftus Road), meaning that only their former 'landlords' and rivals QPR have had more home grounds (14) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886–1888.

Craven

Craven is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England centred on the market town of Skipton. In 1974, Craven district was formed as the merger of Skipton urban district, Settle Rural District and most of Skipton Rural District, all in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It comprises the upper reaches of Airedale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale, and includes most of the Aire Gap and Craven Basin.

The name Craven is much older than the modern district, and encompassed a larger area. This history is also reflected in the way the term is still commonly used, for example by the Church of England.

History

Craven has been the name of this district throughout recorded history. Its extent in the 11th century can be deduced from The Domesday Book but its boundaries now differ according to whether considering administration, taxation or religion.

Etymology

The derivation of the name Craven is uncertain, yet a Celtic origin related to the word for garlic (craf in Welsh) has been suggested as has the proto-Celtic *krab- suggesting scratched or scraped in some sense and even an alleged pre-Celtic word cravona, supposed to mean a stony region. In civic use the name Craven or Cravenshire had, before 1166, given way to Staincliffe. However the church Archdeaconry has kept its name as Craven throughout.

Craven (disambiguation)

Craven is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England.

Craven may also refer to:

Places

In business

People

Other uses

Craven (surname)

Craven is the surname of: