History

The first match was held in the Promenade Gardens in 1911. It was a men-only club at that time and remained so for many years.

Bowling continued up to and throughout the First World War. At this time, and for many years afterwards, the Club used Council-owned facilities, including a croquet lawn, having no premises or greens of its own. In 1921 a second team was approved and membership numbers limited to 70 gentlemen. 

In August of 1923, ladies were for the first time permitted to play in the bowls drives, provided that they wore "broad heeled boots or shoes". 

By 1938 the Club had moved to a clubhouse next to the Marine Hotel on the promenade, but with the outbreak of the Second World War the following year, bowling activities were suspended for the duration of hostilities. In 1945 ladies were allowed to run their own Cup competitions for the first time, borrowing the green from their male counterparts; and finally in 1958 [some 47 years after the Club's first ever match!] the ladies formed their own Club.

 By the 1970s, with local government re-organisation, the Council indicated that it would no longer be prepared to undertake maintenance of the green, and so the Club purchased its own mower and other equipment. There was a growing feeling throughout the late Seventies and early Eighties that the two associate Clubs ought to consider independence from the Council and seek premises of their own. In 1983 the two Clubs agreed to merge, creating the Hornsea Bowling Club as we know it today. 

Years of hectic fundraising followed whilst a suitable site for the Club was sought and eventually located. In 1986 the current site was purchased and then the hard work really started. The land was cleared by members, gateways were widened and boundary hedges planted. A concrete storage garage was donated, and the former professional's hut at Hornsea Golf Club was dismantled, transported and re-erected by members as the new Club House. It was internally redesigned by the members. Professional contractors were hired to install access roads and parking facilities. These were all costly items but well worth it in the end. More donations and fundraising efforts were required to pay for all of this work, though the Club remained in debt until 1996. 

Gradually the facilities were extended; a veranda built at the front of the Clubhouse and paving placed around the edge of the green. The kitchen was also updated and electricity installed.

In the mid 1990s it was agreed that an indoor bowling club be set up to operate alongside the outdoor club, and this facility was opened in 1998. The Indoor Club is constitutionally entirely separate from the Hornsea Bowling Club, the only link being that the land on which the Indoor Club stands is still owned by the Outdoor Club, which it leases to the Indoor Club on a long term basis. Many Outdoor Club players also bowl indoors during the winter months, of course, though membership of the two Clubs is entirely separate.