Tennis Court At Combe Abbey

The tennis court at Combe Abbey is a former tennis court built around 1820, or possibly earlier in the 19th century. It features red brick construction, with one end wall rendered, and a hipped roof covered in Welsh slate. The building is a high single storey. There are later entrance doors in the rendered wall, along with 20th-century sliding doors on the long wall to the left. Both long walls have recessed blank panels with gauged brick flat arches. Running the full length above are horizontal sliding sash windows with glazing bars, which cantilever out and form galleries. The rear wall has blocked windows and a 20th-century door.

Inside, the walls are lined with slate, likely sourced from Lord Penrhyn's quarry at Penrhyn, where Benjamin Wyatt was the agent. Samuel Wyatt used slate in this manner, referring to it as 'patent slating', suggesting that the Wyatts may have designed this tennis court. Although the penthouses have been demolished, the tambour remains. The roof has a 20th-century suspended ceiling but is reported to be of queen-post type, cross-strutted, and made of pine. An 1811 plan indicates a rectangular structure on this site, albeit with different proportions. According to Noel and Clarke, the tennis court was completed around 1820 and is noted as one of the first glazed tennis courts in England.