Hambledon is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire in England, situated about 10 miles (16 km) north of Portsmouth within the South Downs National Park.
Hambledon is best known as the 'Cradle of Cricket'. It is thought that Hambledon Club, one of the oldest cricket clubs known, was formed about 1750. Hambledon was England's leading cricket club from about 1765 until the formation of MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in 1787.
Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; brawd-HAYP-nee) is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, but cricket predated the club and ground by at least two centuries. The club is in the parish of Hambledon close to the neighbouring parish of Clanfield. The club took the name of the neighbouring rural village of Hambledon, about 2.7 miles away by road.
The ground lies on a ridge connecting Broadhalfpenny Down itself with higher ground to the north at Wether Down and Salt Hill. The ridge and the down to the south are crossed by the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath before it descends towards Horndean.