How to play Barnes Bowls
Barnes Bowling Club plays by 18th-century Elizabethan rules — older and quite different from modern flat green or crown green bowls. Choose a topic below to find out more.
Equipment & Clothing
Barnes Bowling Club plays the Elizabethan game using just two woods per player — unlike modern bowls which use…
The Green
DiagramsBarnes Bowling Club proudly plays Elizabethan Bowls — a historic game using highly-biased Lignum Vitae w…
The Quartiles
The green is divided into quartiles and the jack must land within the quartile to be in play. The jack must la…
Types of Game
DiagramsElizabethan Bowls is a wonderful game to play with up to 4 people. In a practice session you can play against…
How to Bowl
Stand with the opposite foot to your bowling hand on the step. Do not touch the green — the other foot must no…
Types of Shot
DiagramsThere are a variety of shots in bowls, but they come down to two principles: a drawing shot aimed to land in a…
Bowl & Jack Positions
DiagramsUnderstanding the status of the bowls and the Jack is an important part of learning and playing the game corre…
Scoring
Scoring Woods are those belonging to one player or team that lie within four feet of the Jack and are closer t…
Club Etiquette
Civility and good manners are at the heart of life at Barnes. We may all have our differences from time to tim…