Roll down memory lane: A world history of bowling

Can't get enough of bowling? Neither can we! And by the looks of the history books, people have been loving the sport of bowling for thousands of years.

Take a roll down memory lane with us to discover some amazing histories from around the world.

Ancient Egypt 

Sir Flinders Petrie, a British archaeologist and Egyptologist, was researching ancient tombs in Egypt during the 1930s. He discovered several objects in a child's grave that looked like crude, early forms of bowling balls and pins. If his analysis of these objects is correct, then this means bowling began thousands of years ago in 3200 B.C.!

Germany in 300 A.D. 

A historian named William Pehle researched and discovered that German monks invented a game very similar to bowling. These monks would set up pins, which they called 'kegels', to represent human sins. They would then knock these down by throwing stones at them to represent holiness conquering sin. Interestingly, 'kegling' is another word for bowling used even today in 2015! 

England in 1366 

It seems bowling was very popular among soldiers around this time, because King Edward III outlawed bowling in 1366 so that his troops could spend more time practising archery. Phew! Thank goodness we are free to bowl as much as we like. 

France in 1588 

Off the coast of Gravelines in France, the English admiral Sir Frances Drake was playing a game of lawn bowling before the Spanish Armada attacked. Instead of panicking, he was recorded as saying "we still have time to finish the game and to thrash the Spaniards, too" and he just kept on bowling! Hear, hear! We wouldn't have stopped a perfectly good game of bowling either. Although he lost that battle, he lead England to victory. 

Australia in 2015 

Here we are today, with bowling still being one of the most enjoyable family activities even centuries later. 

Make your bowling story part of this rich history and book online for a game of bowling at a centre near you!