Despite the fact that the membership of the Corinthian Yacht Club grew rapidly in the first five months of its existence from 130 Members at the end of its first month, June 1872, to a reported 249 at the first General Meeting in November, the Club functioned without its own premises, hiring rooms for necessary functions.
But by April 1878, it was felt that proper premises were required and a sub-committee was appointed to consider the various sites on the river which might be suitable to build or lease a clubhouse.
Consequently, June 12th 1879 saw the opening of the first Clubhouse at Erith on the River Thames. It stood in an acre of land and consisted of a large club room 70 feet (21metres) long, a committee room and a bunkroom. Members were able to hire a large sail locker in the extensive stores underneath for the sum of 30 shillings per annum. The Commodore, Mr. Telford Field, headed the celebratory 'cruise in squadron', which was followed by a dinner attended by 72 Members. A painted sign board, depicting Members of the Committee, is a souvenir from those days and can be seen in the entrance hall of the present Burnham Clubhouse.
Over the next twenty years gradual development and industrialisation of the Thames made the river and the Erith Clubhouse less attractive and the racing less appealing. The waterfront Gardens had become a coal wharf, the river was polluted and the waterways congested with vessels waiting to berth further up the river. This would have had a restrictive effect on the racing which had always been limited to what was described as a 'circular course' but perhaps better described as a 'boomerang' as the course followed the contours of Wennington Marsh, with buoys to the west and the east.
For some months the General Committee had been considering a move further to the east to the more pleasant waters of the Thames at Port Victoria and waters of the Medway. On December 16th 1897, after a Special General Meeting at the Cannon Street Hotel, it was resolved to enter into an agreement with the South Eastern Railway Company for the erection and tenancy of a clubhouse at Port Victoria and the days of the Erith Clubhouse were numbered.
The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club had been a presence to be reckoned with in Erith for 27 years but the area around the clubhouse was soon developed once the move was made. For some years the old clubhouse could still be visited on the premises of British Gypsum Limited and 'Corinthian Manor Way' still lead from the main road to the club house. In the 21st century Google maps show 'Corinthian Road' in Erith running alongside 'Bronze Age Way', the A2016.
