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King George V died on 20th January, 1936, and a National Memorial Fund Committee set about raising funds to assist in the purchase of playing fields in Memory of the late King. It was on 3rd November, 1936, that King George's Fields Foundation was constituted by Trust Deed: 'To promote and to assist in the establishment throughout the United Kingdom of playing fields for the use and enjoyment of the people every such playing field to be styled 'King George's Field and to be distinguished by heraldic panels or other appropriate tablet medallion or inscription commemorative of His Late majesty and of a design approved by the Administrative Council'. The Interim Report of the King George's Fields Foundation shows that by 1946, 471 such fields had been created.
That report also shows the cost of the Wivenhoe field to have been £6,945 to which cost the Wivenhoe Urban District Council received a grant of £875, the U.D.C. having signed a Deed of Dedication on 9th May, 1938. This Deed requires that the land, comprising some 16 acres, be used for public recreation and for no other purpose. The close association between the King George's Fields Foundation and the National Playing Fields Association eventually led to the NPFA becoming Trustees of Wivenhoe's King George's Playing Field with Wivenhoe Town Council responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.
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