Hercules Stone Safe at New Home

This week saw the completion of the movement of The Hercules Stone into its new rightful home at Laund Hill. The monument now stands proudly by the entrance to our new state of the art home, in prime position for everybody to see.

The Hercules Stone holds significant importance, holding over 150 years of history. The first Rugby teams in Huddersfield played under the name of the Huddersfield Athletic Club. In 1875, the Huddersfield Athletic Club opened a new gymnasium on St John's Road, where the carved stone figure of Hercules was placed over the centre doorway of the building. This gym was the location of the first meeting that formed the Huddersfield Cricket and Athletics Club. The Gymnasium remained the headquarters of the Huddersfield Cricket and Athletics Club until the Summer of 1906 when it was sold and the office of the club transferred to the Pavillion at Fartown, the club as we currently know it was to remain at Fartown until August 1992. 

When the gymnasium was eventually demolished, the stone was rescued by Ian Van Bellen and later restored by Dave Bradbury, before being displayed at the club’s home grounds as a link to the club's 19th-century roots. The stone has been with the club every step of the way and now joins this next step as we move into our new centre of excellence.

Huddersfield Giants Managing Director Richard Thewlis said: “The Hercules stone is a magnificent piece of our history and having resided with us at the Accu it's wonderful to see in in place at our, soon to be new home, Laund Hill. To move our entire operation away from the Accu to Laund Hill is extremely challenging and I’d advise all supporters to keep an eye on the official club website and social media channels as we publicise over the coming weeks the changes that the move will bring. Hercules has been keeping his eye on us for 150 years and I hope he continues to do so."