A village cricket club plans to build a new clubhouse after a tree crashed through the roof of the old one during February's storms.

Shipton under Wychwood Cricket Club has applied to West Oxfordshire District Council for permission for the new building and a new scorer's hut at the cricket ground at High Street in the village near Chipping Norton.

The club has played on the current ground since 1920 and currently has more than 200 playing and social members including four senior Cherwell League sides and youth sides from U11 through to U19.

The site is not within the grounds of a listed building, but it is within the Shipton under Wychwood Conservation Area. 

(Image: Hayward Smart Architects/WODC)

A heritage statement states: "The clubhouse was badly damaged by a falling tree some time ago, and is not usable, as the roof is now covered in a tarpaulin."

Plans to replace the existing building with a new clubroom were already underway but after the storm damage in February building has now been condemned.

The existing pavilion will be retained but the clubhouse and storage unit will be removed or demolished and replaced by "a new, well-designed" club house, which "would provide much needed facilities for this thriving village cricket club and would have no impact on the heritage assets".

"This is because the design is better than the current arrangement of structures", it says.

The replacement building would provide an accessible clubroom for players and members, with a bar, kitchen and WCs.

The building is sized to suit the needs of players, officials and spectators during matches and for social events, which currently happen in the old pavilion.