Welcome to Overton Black Arrows Archery Club

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Towards the end of 2025 members of Overton Black Arrows fondly remembered the Gentleman who founded Overton Archers in 1962 and Black Arrows in 1970.

The same Gentleman later merged the two clubs to form Overton Black Arrows in 1975.

The Gentleman concerned was Peter Turner, whom in 2010 was made Lifelong President of Overton Black Arrows.

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Peter passed away peacefully in November 2025 and OvBA members, as well as Archers, Coaches and Judges across the archery community, remember a man who began his archery journey aged just 15, setting up his first archery club two years later and continuing to take part in, be involved with, support, and give back to the sport he loved, for the rest of his life.

There's a longer article here, dedicated to the memory of Peter Turner​.

If you knew Peter, please have a read of it and remember him as you do. Thank you.

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Rest In Peace Peter Turner, you will be missed, but never forgotten.

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The 2025-2026 Winter Field League began in November and will continue through to March. Places are limited, so book your ticket quickly if you want to enter any of the remaining shoots. Go to our Events page to book your place, if any are left.

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We had a great turnout for the 2025 English Field Championships in September, over 100 archers entered the event, with 95 taking part and shooting the challenging course, befitting of an event of this status. The steep slopes of The Warren make it easy to put on challenging uphill, downhill and cross slope shots to challenge even the best archers. The guest course designers did themselves proud with some challenging and different shots around The Warren.

The results of the event are available here. 

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We had an amazing turnout for the 2025 UK 3D Championships in July this year.

Making it one of, if not the, largest AGB recognised 3D Event in the UK to date, something we're very proud of. Hopefully, if we get to hold the event again, we can have more than 100 competitors complete the event, having had a 106 strong entry list, exactly 100 archers completed the event.

The results of the event are available here.

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​​Beginners Courses

We try to hold a couple of courses each year, our events page will have the details of courses as and when we are able to confirm dates and the number of spaces. All courses are taught to AGB standards, run by an AGB recognised coach, assisted by a number of AGB recognised coaches and experienced archers from OvBA. Providing you pass the course, you'll be awarded an AGB recognised certificate allowing you to join OvBA, or another AGB recognised archery club. The following gives an example of when we try to run courses, although depending on the availability of coaches and experienced archers, all of whom give up their own time so we can run the courses, dates aren't known until a month or two before each course.

Recent and Upcoming Beginners Courses

Our Spring 2025 Beginners Course took place during April & May with all those completing the course gaining a pass and a certificate to enable them to join an AGB club of their choice. Many, we're pleased to say, have chosen to join Overton Black Arrows as they will get free membership for the rest of the year to continue their archery journey.
Our Autumn 2025 Beginners Course took place during October & November with all those completing the course gaining a pass and a certificate to enable them to join an AGB club of their choice. Many, we're pleased to say, have chosen to join Overton Black Arrows as they will get free membership until June 2026 to continue their archery journey.

We have a Winter 2026 course, starting in January and finishing in February, but this is filling up fast, so you'll need to book as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the last ticket available.

If you're interested in trying archery, please see the BEGINNERS page for more information.​

If you'd like to put your name down for a Beginners Course, please use the CONTACT page and use 'Beginners' or 'Coaching' from the drop down list and we'll get in touch.

We typically have up to 30 people on the waiting list at any one time, sometimes more, so whenever dates for the next course are announced, places tend to fill up fast as courses are typically for around 15-18 participants, very occasionally up to 24. So, if you get an email informing you a course is available to book on to, please make sure your you book your place as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

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I've brought a bow and want to practice with it ...

Whilst it is possible to teach yourself to shoot, there are all sorts of things that can go wrong with this!  Where will you shoot this lethal weapon?

An official range has a minimum length of 100m and a width that includes a sizeable safety area either side of the targets.

Are you insured? ... Are your neighbours happy? ... Is your equipment even fit for purpose?

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A potted history of Overton Black Arrows [OvBA]​

"Overton Archers" were originally established in 1962. Another archery club was established in the local area, the "Black Arrows". Then, by 1975 it was realised the members of both clubs was almost identical and so they merged and became "Overton Black Arrows".

Overton Black Arrows want to allow members to enjoy all aspects of the sport of archery from beginner tuition, recreational archery through to competing and coaching. The club is affiliated with Archery GB [AGB], Southern Counties Archery Society [SCAS] and the Hampshire Archery Association [HAA].

OvBA have a target archery range, a field archery range and over the winter months have access to an indoor range too.

Members currently shoot a variety of disciplines including; Target, Field, 3D and occasionally Clout using; American Flatbow, Barebow, Compound, Horsebow (Asiatic), Longbow, Recurve and Traditional bows. Beginners bows are available for new members joining after taking a Beginners Course to help them develop a good form and technique, before continuing their journey with a hire bow, if they wish, before going on to purchase their own equipment. Coaches and members at the club are a great source of knowledge of what equipment to consider buying and where to buy it.

Members shoot regularly all year round at our outdoor range in Laverstoke (between Overton and Whitchurch) with targets up to 100yards distant and during the indoor season the club shoots one evening a week at an indoor range in Whitchurch, usually shooting at 20yards, typically from early September to the end of March. We also meet on a regular basis at our Field and 3D Archery venue, The Warren, near Kingsclere throughout the year to shoot Field and 3D archery, although you will need to book a ticket to the relevant 'events' to shoot at our Field and Indoor venues.

Details of when we can use The Warren and our Indoor venue appear on our Events page. OvBA members can shoot at Laverstoke all year round, as well as being able to book on to and shoot at events at Testbourne and The Warren as part of their membership. Warren Only members can shoot at The Warren as and when events take place and they are able to book a ticket to shoot. Non-OvBA members can book to shoot at events at The Warren as and when events take place and they are able to book a ticket to shoot. Non-OvBA members and must be invited to shoot at Testbourne or Laverstoke and will need to pay the applicable fee to cover insurances. These visits should not number more than six per year.

Unfortunately, we cannot simply turn up at The Warren and practice our Field, or 3D, archery whenever we want, but we do get to shoot there plenty of times throughout the year.

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Shooting Times

'Club Night':

• Wednesday from around 6:00pm to dusk (Laverstoke Range) in spring & summer (outdoors) and if light allows even if we're shooting 'Indoors' at Testbourne.

• Wednesday normally 7:00pm to 9:30pm (Testbourne School Sports Hall) in the autumn & winter (indoor season only - typically early September through to the end of March).

What 'other' days/times and places can I shoot as an OvBA member:

• At The Warren field archery course (near Kingsclere) when available and providing you've booked a ticket to shoot, this includes 'Warren Only' members.

• Members can shoot 365days a year at our Laverstoke range, as long as the range rules are complied with and you can see all of the overshoot when you're on the shooting line.

Please see our Contact page for location details and maps.

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​Want to try, or do more, Field & 3D shooting?

In November each year we start a Winter Field League, which has been growing in popularity since it began in 2021.

This is intended to give archers an opportunity to try Field and or 3D archery, even if they've not done it before. It is a fun league and whilst most archers keep score, it's not mandatory. The WFL typically runs over five shoots and is an ideal introduction to shooting Field and 3D, to see if you like it or in an informal competition environment. For seasoned Field and 3D archers it's a great way to keep up those all important practice hours. Plus, you can often pick up tips and tricks from other archers while you're there.

The 1st and 3rd shoots (November and January) are normally WA12 Field courses half marked distances, half unmarked distances.

The 2nd and 4th shoots (December and February) being WA12 3D courses, all unmarked distances.

Then a 5th shoot (March) is normally a combined WA12 Field course with half marked and half unmarked distances, plus a WA12 3D course, all unmarked distances. Both courses being shot in the same session.

More details will appear on our events page later in the year.

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​The Warren​, Peter Hastings Woods, & The Combe - occasionally

The full OvBA Field Course has three distinct areas, although it's normally referred to as The Warren, regardless of what area(s) are in use:

The Warren itself, 12acres or more, which can be described as a curved dead end valley with many steep slopes.

The Woods, 7acres or more, of sloped woodland, some level ish areas, lots of shade, some light spots and a few steep slopes too.

The Combe, 12acres or more, plenty of slopes (again) with the end of it resembling a steeply sloped natural amphitheatre few, if any, flat shots.

The venue, as a whole, represents a challenging environment for even the most seasoned field archer, and is probably loved and loathed in equal measure. Slopes are a given whenever you shoot at The Warren, so uphill and cross slope shots will always be abundant, plus where possible some lovely steep downhill shots will greet you too. All we're really missing is a pond/lake to shoot over/towards, and a cliff/sheer drop to shoot near vertical downward shots off of.

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As a club, Overton Black Arrows are delighted to have archers shooting the whole venue, which only tends to happen when we host the All British & Open Field Championships. But, we hope whenever you shoot any area of The Warren, you won't be disappointed with it and hope you felt challenged shooting your way around it.

We hope, everyone leaves with a smile on their face, even if one or two competitors may leave an arrow, or two, in storage somewhere within the venue!  But, don't worry, someone will likely find it, although we can't say when, but most arrows stored there do get found ... eventually.

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I've brought a bow and want to practice with it ...

Whilst it is possible to teach yourself to shoot, there are all sorts of things that can go wrong with this!  Where will you shoot this lethal weapon?

An official range will include a sizeable safety area beyond it's furthest marked/allowed as well as safety areas either side of the range where targets are located.

Are you insured? ... Are your neighbours happy? ... Is your equipment even fit for purpose? ... Always ask the question "Where can the arrow go if I miss, or my equipment fails?" and if the answer is into someone else's property, then you need to find somewhere else to practice, or better still, join Overton Black Arrows and use our facilities.