Acting on behalf of members of the White Conduit Club and backed against any losses by George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea and Colonel Charles Lennox, Thomas Lord opened his first ground in May 1787 on the site where Dorset Square now stands, on land leased from the Portman Estate.

It was thought that the establishment of a new ground would offer more exclusivity to its members, with White Conduit Fields considered too far away from fashionable Oxford Street and the West End.

His purchase was celebrated in the following anonymous poem: The first University Match between Oxford and Cambridge was held at Lord's in 1827,[18] at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth, establishing what would be the oldest first-class fixture in the world until 2020.

These included the addition of cricket nets for players to practise and the construction of a grandstand designed by the architect Arthur Allom, which was built in the winter of 1867–68 and also provided accommodation for the press.

[33] After many years of complaints regarding the poor condition of the Lord's pitch, the MCC took action by installing Percy Pearce as Ground Superintendent in 1874.

[38] As part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations for Queen Victoria in 1887, the Kings of Belgium, Denmark, Saxony, and Portugal attended Lord's.

[40][25][42] The ground was subsequently threatened by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's attempts to purchase the area for their line into Marylebone station.

[43] After considering the company's offer, the MCC relinquished a strip of land bordering Wellington Road and was given in exchange the Clergy Orphan School to the south.

[40] In order to build the railway into Marylebone station, the Nursery Ground had to be dug up to allow tunnels to be constructed between 1894 and 1898 using the cut-and-cover method.

[44] It was rumoured that subsequent tunnelling under Wellington Road provided the banking for the Mound Stand, which was constructed in 1898/99 on an area previously occupied by tennis and rackets courts.

[47] Lord's hosted three of the nine Test matches in the ill-fated 1912 Triangular Tournament which was organised by the South African millionaire Sir Abe Bailey.

[50] Though requisitioned, Lord's held several charity cricket matches during the war, featuring military teams from the various territories of the British Empire.

With attendances growing in number, it was suggested that Lord's aim to accommodate crowds of up to 40,000 for Test matches; however, the stands at the ground were considered inadequate with the grandstand described as "hopelessly out of date".

[26] Upon its completion, Baker presented Lord's with a weather vane Father Time removing the bails from a wicket, which was placed on top of the grandstand.

[47][25] This stand was the work of the architect Kenneth Peacock and replaced an area of raised ground lined with trees from where it was traditionally possible to watch a match from the comfort of ones own carriage.

[65] Three years later Lord's hosted the final of the inaugural men's World Cup, with the West Indies triumphing over Australia.

[71] The Mound Stand's roof was removed in 1985 to make way for a new upper tier designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, which opened in time for the MCC's bicentenary in 1987.

[72] That bicentenary was celebrated with a five-day match between MCC and a Rest of the World team in August 1987, which ended in a draw after the final day was rained off.

[75] With Lord's hosting three matches in the 1999 World Cup, including the final, the MCC set about improving press facilities by constructing the Media Centre at the Nursery End between the Compton and Edrich stands, offering commanding views towards the pavilion from over the bowlers arm.

In January 2009, Westminster City Council approved the use of new 48 metre high retractable floodlights designed to minimise light spillage into nearby homes.

[85] Two weeks after the first use of the floodlights, Lord's hosted its first Twenty20 International in the World Twenty20 between England and the Netherlands, which resulted in a shock last-ball win for the associate nation.

[89] Phase two of the masterplan involved the demolition of the Compton and Edrich Stands in 2019, with their replacements being completed in 2021; these provided an extra 2,000 seats and for the first time were linked by a walkway bridge.

[99] The building consists of a long, two storey centre section with covered seating between two end towers which are capped with pyramidal roofs which have ornate wrought and cast iron lanterns.

The Long Room is found on the ground floor of the pavilion and has been described by Lawrence Booth as "the most evocative four walls in world cricket".

Amongst overseas players to have a portrait in the Long Room are four Australians: Don Bradman, Keith Miller, Victor Trumper and Shane Warne.

[109] Until 1999 women – except Queen Elizabeth II – were not permitted to enter the pavilion as members during play, due to the gender-based membership policy of the MCC.

[113] It was designed by the Future Systems architectural practice led by Czech architect Jan Kaplický and was the first all-aluminium, semi-monocoque building in the world, costing about £5 million.

[113] The glazing on the front of the centre is inclined 25° so as to eliminate reflections and glare on the pitch to minimise the visual barrier between members of the media and the players.

[130] They appointed Diana Rait Kerr, "to whom the game owes a great debt", to be the first full-time creator of the museum and library, a position she held from 1945 to 1968.

[158] A Canadian lacrosse team toured the United Kingdom again in 1883, with one exhibition match being staged at Lord's in front of several thousand spectators.