Enclosed Tennis Court

Enclosed Tennis Court

A vast and echoing space, the enclosed tennis court is something of a status symbol, indicative of the wealth and opulent lifestyle of its owners. Long and wide, with a high, sloping, glass ceiling, the plastered, white painted walls are littered with seemingly arbitrary obstacles, ranging from ledges to buttresses in actuality carefully constructed according to tennis court rules to add interest to the game.

A woven net is drawn between two wooden posts, positioned at either end of the central line, drawn in white paint on a floor of ruddily painted stone. The symmetrical outline of the spacious court, which has its very own dedicated entrance, a wooden door painted white and hidden away at one end, can be clearly seen from the viewing gallery, slightly raised and with its own entrance, which is positioned along one of the court's longer sides. Here, wooden benches on cast-iron stands, made comfortable with long, custom-made cushions of an opulent striped cotton in burgundy and cream, adorned with tremulous hints of gold thread, stand, ranged on three tiered stone platforms.

Temperate in summer, the court has a tendency to be chilly in the colder seasons, but these are difficulties easily overcome as the enclosed nature of the court means that royal tennis can be one of the very few sports easily playable all year round, even at night, when braziers, their fumes specially catered for by ventilation holes placed at regular intervals high-up along the walls, can be positioned at strategic intervals around the court, and the gallery can be similarly illuminated with a plethora of standing candelabra.

Exit to:
 * Privy Garden
 * St. James' Park