the original form of tennis, which begat lawn tennis in the mid-nineteenth century as a simplified form for genteel amusement, which has turned up on the internet.
Made by Historic Royal Palaces in the Real Tennis court at Hampton Court it explains something of its more complicated rules and regulations. It also looks at what gentleman players would have worn.
The short video can be viewed at Henry VIII's Tennis Court at Hampton Court Palace
We know that the game was being played in and around court circles by the 1460s, but the Hampton Court example is the earliest example to survive.
The exterior of the Real Tennis Court at Hampton Court
Image: Wikipedia
Oxford has a court that is still in use as well as the shell of another, now holding a lecture theatre and student accommodation in Oriel. That seems to date from about 1570, and was apparently played in by King Charles I and Prince Rupert during their time in the city in the Civil War.
One of the very last students to play the game there was the future King Edward VII, then at Christ Church, in 1860, just before it was converted into a music hall. It was while visiting the theatre that William Morris, working on the Oxford Union murals was smitten with the barmaid, and went on to marry her.
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