Land between Holdenhurst Road and Charminster Road was allotted to the Earl of Malmesbury in 1805 in lieu of tithes. Part of the allotment was a tract known as Shorthorn Common that the Earl sold the Council in 1902 for £25.00 per acre. He conveyed the land on condition that the Council construct certain roads, including Queens Park Drive.
The Winton Recreation Ground site comprised 14 acres and was built on the site of a former clay pit. Because of the extensive work required to level parts of the site, the Council did not complete the park's construction until 1906. As well as the bowling green, the recreation ground had a cricket and a football pitch, a cinder running track and the only quoits green in the borough and cost £3070 to construct.
The Earl and Countess of Malmesbury opened the park on 26th September 1906, together with the golf pavilion at Queens Park and the drive linking the two parks.
Richmond Park Bowling Club had been formed in early April 1906 and took its name from the new Richmond Park building estate east of Richmond Park Road that had come into being at the end of the 19th century. The Mayor of Bournemouth, Alderman John Parsons, opened the top green with much ceremony on Wednesday, 25th July 1906. The Bournemouth Graphic reported that the club president, Councillor Albert Drake, had invited a large number of Bournemouth bowlers and their lady friends to witness the ceremony and partake of afternoon tea, then watch the bowling contest between the Corporation and the Richmond men. The Council team won the game 110 to 47.
The second green (which is now part of Winton Park) at Winton was completed on Friday, 30th November 1934. The then Chairman of the Parks and Pleasure Grounds Committee, Alderman H G Harris, placed the final turf in position at a special ceremony. The Mayor, Alderman John Edgecombe JP, officially opened the green on Thursday 25th July 1935. As in 1906, a match between the club and the Corporation followed the ceremony. Councillor Newton, the new Parks Committee chairman, opened the pavilion on 1st July 1937.
Richmond Park was the first Bournemouth club to be responsible for the management of its own site and it signed a 25-year lease with the Council on 24th April 1999. Three years earlier, it had been the first Bournemouth bowling club to open a licensed bar. The increased revenue generated from its activities allowed the club to refurbish and enlarge the pavilion, which opened in time for the 1999 bowling season.