The JW Hobbs ground at Norbury was one of the country's first private club and grounds and in its day possessed a superb pitch. The site was built in 1885 by JW Hobbs in the grounds of Norbury Hall and staged its first games in that year. In 1911 it was sold to the South West Bank which was taken over by Barclays Bank in 1921. They invested in the redevelopment of the venue and the grounds continued to host high-class club cricket through to the 1980s. In the 1990s Barclays sold out to a private company who built a leisure centre and the venue no longer hosts cricket. Hobbs himself was a local philanthropist who spent eight years in prison after the failure of his company.