Shaftesbury Bowling Club was founded in 1899 and is affiliated to the Irish Bowling Association and Irish Women's Bowling Association as well as the Northern Ireland Private Greens League and Northern Ireland Women's Private Greens League.

The Early Days

The Ladies Committee was formed on 13th January 1955 and the prime object of this committee was to assist the male members organise fundraising events in aid of the new pavilion at Downing Park.

At a meeting on 9th April 1956, twenty ladies indicated they would like to play bowls, and during the summer months they had permission to bowl each afternoon except Wednesday and Saturday.

Mrs E Downing was installed as President of the Ladies section in February 1957.

In 1968 it was decided to join both the IWBA and NIWPGL to play in the Senior League and Cup matches.

There was growing interest in competitive bowling and a "B" team was introduced in 1979, expanding in 1996 to an "A" team and two "B" teams.

Honours

• World Bowls Player - 1974, 1976 A. Patton
• IWBA President - 1998 Mrs Babs Armstrong
• International Player - 1971 Mrs Jill Smyth
• NIWPGL Presidents - 1984 Mrs Jean Ham
• NIWBA Stylux Cup Runners Up - 1998
• NIWPGL Championships Singles Winners - 1991
• NIWPGL Championships Triples Winners - 1996 Two teams from Shaftesbury in the Final (Winners - L. McCrory, J. Alford, E. Kilpatrick and Runner up - B. Boyd, L. Taylor, B. Armstrong)
• NIWPGL Championships Fours Winners - 1999
• NIWPGL Championships Fours Runners Up - 1980