The Holyport Real Tennis Club, formerly the Royal County of Berkshire Real Tennis Club, operates the

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

court at Holyport,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. The court was built in 1889 by Sam Heilbut as part of his ''Holyport'' estate and is a Grade II listed building. The court is tucked behind a row of picturesque cottages on Holyport Street. The main house of the estate is now a nursing home. The overall dimensions of the court are 111 feet by 38 feet 8 inches (33.83 × 11.79 m), with a floor of 96 feet by 31 feet 8 inches (29.26 × 9.65 m). The tambour is 18½ inches wide by 25½ inches deep (470 × 648 mm). About a two hundred members of the Holyport Real Tennis Club use the court. In 2013 there were fears that the club would be sold to a property developer but it was saved for use as a real tennis club by a consortium of owners. Following the change of ownership the club has been run by Club Director, John Evans. In 2014, the club celebrated 125 years of play and marked the milestone with a nine day celebration, which included tournaments and a black tie ball. In 2015 the club hosted the IRTPA Championships.

References

Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Real tennis venues Sports clubs established in 1953 Sports clubs in Berkshire Sports venues in Berkshire 1953 establishments in England Tennis clubs {{England-sports-venue-stub