The stadium before Twickenham developed around it. © Twickenham World Rugby Museum
HQ at 100: One Century, Hundreds of Moments, World Rugby Museum, Twickenham, October 2 2009 – April 4 2010
As the new Rugby season draws near, the home of English rugby, Twickenham Stadium, is set to celebrate its centenary with a special exhibition, HQ at 100: One Century, Hundreds of Moments.
Spectators flood to the stadium in the 1930s. © Twickenham World Rugby Museum
The existing site began life as a boggy market garden in the wilds of Twickenham and when Billy Williams suggested the location it was criticised as too far from London and too damp.
100 years later Twickenham is now a state of the art stadium in the Bustling London borough of Twickenham bringing more than 80,000 fans to the area on match days.
HQ at 100 will focus on how both the stadium and the sport have developed over the last century and will feature just some of the many high profile matches that have been played at the ground.
Spectators watch from surrounding trees and roof tops. © Twickenham World Rugby Museum
Highlights of the century will include England’s golden period in the 1920s when they won 4 grand slams and England’s 2003 World up warm up game against France that set the scene for Martin Johnson’s men go on to lift the Webb Ellis trophy.
The exhibition will also look at changes in the stadium's structure, from early spectators watching from mounds to the huge stands of today that are capable of holding thousands.
Twickenham also played an important wartime role, from grazing warhorses off to the front in World War One to a decontamination plant in the event of a gas attack in World War Two.
For more information follow the details below.
