Today's Snooker tables are actually derived from Pool games originally played on English Billiards tables, and therefore to understand the development of the modern table, it is helpful to look at the history of early Billiards tables.

The origin of Billiards is very vague and there appear to have been games similar to both billiards and croquet originally played on the ground. There is some documented evidence that such games existed in ancient Greece at least as early as 4th Century B.C.  Games similar to these were brought indoors and elevated to table top level where, of course it was necessary to have a raised border to stop the balls falling onto the floor. Thus, the cushion was developed.

Billiards tables were developed from this, they were originally made entirely from wood, with no cloth and no pockets. Hoops were used as the targets.  Later, cloth lined the bed of the table and the early cushions which later again were covered with several layers of felt.

Until the early 19th Century, these ancestors of modern snooker tables were made to a size to suit the room which accommodated them. However, by consensus, the manufacturers established the 12ft x 6ft size as the accepted norm. It was not until 1892 that the Governing Body, the Billiards Association, established a standard for tables. This standard table has been only slightly modified for today's Snooker tables and the basic overall dimensions have remained the same.

Around 1835, rubber replaced the felt stuffing of earlier cushions. However, vulcanising had not yet been invented and the rubber was glued to the wooden cushion in thin strips. Before vulcanising, rubber was only pliant above room temperature and so the cushions had to be heated before play. Devices similar to long, thin, metal hot water bottles were used for this. This was not really satisfactory and shortly after the development of the vulcanising process, vulcanised rubber cushions were introduced by John Thurston, a pioneering billiard table maker of the time. These new cushions revolutionised the performance of that generation of billiard tables.

Slate beds were first introduced into English billiards tables in the 1830's although they had been used in Europe many years earlier.

In the early 1900's an excellent snooker table maker, Burroughs and Watts, introduced a steel backing, as an option, to the cushion rails. This improved the speed and consistency of the rebound of the balls. This innovation has been incorporated into the modern Tournament standard Snooker tables.

And so, the modern snooker table was born.