Capacity at the ground was increased to 15,000 in 2000, and four One Day International matches have been played there, one each in 1999 (part of the 1999 Cricket World Cup), 2000, 2003 and 2005.

[9] Initially, the St Lawrence ground was used only for the annual Cricket Week, and pasture land for the rest of the each year.

[15] Prior to the purchase of the ground there were few permanent structures on it, accommodation during Cricket Week being provided in tents.

[2][16][17] Kent's first County Championship title in 1906 was marked by the commissioning of a painting of the team playing Lancashire on the ground.

War was declared during Canterbury Week in 1914, although cricket continued until the end of the season and matches were moved to the ground from Dover due to wartime activity.

[19] During the war, the ground was used by the military and occupied by the Field Ambulance detachment of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade.

[23] Kent leg-spinner Doug Wright took his seventh first-class hat-trick on the ground in 1949, a world record that remains to this day.

[30][31] The Supermarine Spitfire is associated with the Battle of Britain, much of which was fought in the skies above the county in 1940 and after which Kent's limited-overs team is named.

Shots that touched the tree were counted as a four, even if they ricocheted and cleared the boundary rope, and no batsman could be out caught off a rebound.

[35][34] Only four cricketers are known to have hit the ball over the tree to score a six: Arthur 'Jacko' Watson of Sussex in 1925, the West Indies' Learie Constantine in 1928, Middlesex's Jim Smith in 1939, and Kent's Carl Hooper in 1992.

On 7 January 2005 high winds caused the trunk to snap in two, killing the 200-year-old tree and leaving a 7 feet (2.1 m) stump.

[38] Redevelopment of the north side of the ground in 2017 forced the boundary to be brought forward, so it is no longer possible for the tree to be part of the playing area.

He played 64 Test matches for England and was an inaugural member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

[42][43][45] The Colin Cowdrey Stand was built in the 1980s, partly financed by the sale of mementos after the pollarding of the lime tree that stood on the ground, and formally named after Kent's longest-serving captain during Canterbury Week in 1992.

[46] It is a three-storey stand with a conference room, club shop and outside seating for members on the ground floor.

Since redevelopment it consists of a public bar on the ground-floor level with 16 hospitality boxes and the main scoreboard directly above.

He was the most high-profile cricketer to die during the war when he was killed, aged 38, near Ypres in October 1917 whilst serving in the Royal Engineers.

[58][2] The memorial was rededicated on the centenary of Blythe's death in 2018 on a new site at the Nackington Road entrance behind the Les Ames Stand.

Money for the project would be raised by the building of private housing on the nets behind the pavilion and on the car park of the local pub, the Bat and Ball.

[63] The plans were controversial and the Kent Committee suggested that if they were not approved by the membership of the club that an alternative might be to move the county's headquarters to a ground closer to the M25 in order to attract more spectators.

[74] The floodlights replaced temporary lights which had proved unreliable in strong winds and had restricted the county's ability to play evening Twenty20 matches.

[78] In 2013, the club announced they had been unable to find a partner for the hotel and fitness centre and instead hoped to build 60 retirement flats on the northern side of the ground.

[79] Canterbury City Council initially rejected the planning application in late 2014,[80] but the decision was overturned and construction began in 2016 and was completed by the start of the 2018 season.

It is 1 mile (1.6 km) from Canterbury East railway station on the London Victoria to Dover line.

[85] In recent years, concerts, which take place during the summer using a temporary stage at the Nackington Road end of the ground, have featured artists such as Madness, Olly Murs, Bryan Adams, Tom Jones, and Michael Bublé.

[87] Rooms at the ground can be hired for a number of purposes and the cafe and cricket shop open throughout the year.