St Paul and St Stephen's Church, Gloucester being the architect. The church was consecrated for use on 11 October 1883 by the Bishop of Gloucester. It was built to serve the expanding population but also as a memorial to Robert Raikes on the 100th anniversary of the 1780 Sunday school movement. It was funded by a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society and donations including a large gift from D.H.D Burr. In total around £6,500 was raised, although this was enough to complete the church two parts of the original design were not fully built including the nave which was stopped two bays short and the
Raikes Hall match at the ground was a 5–0 win against Burton Wanderers on 19 September 1896, with 3,000 spectators present. The record League crowd of 5,000 was set for a game against Newton Heath on 17 October 1896, and equalled for games against Grimsby Town on 1 January 1897 and Darwen on 16 April in the same year. During Blackpool's first season in the Football League, it became clear that Raikes Hall needed to be upgraded. The club moved to the Athletic Grounds for the start of the 1897–88 season to allow works to be undertaken at Raikes Hall. However, with