Real Tennis Court And Exhibition Centre

The Real Tennis Court and Exhibition Centre, originally a Real Tennis Court and Riding School, was built in 1840 by the Second Marquess of Salisbury. It features a Tudor style facade facing the Palace courtyard, with imitation windows, and is constructed from red brick with plain tiles. The building is two stories high with attics, and has two light blank windows faced with Welsh slate. The gables include roundels, and the left side of the building projects slightly forward, featuring two gables and a small gabled tower on the right. There are two doorways with moulded brick in a 4-centre arch style. The right side has a crow-stepped gable above a 3-light elliptical-arched window on the first floor, and a similar tower completes the picturesque appearance. The rear elevations are plain brick, and the tennis court has continuous upper-floor bands of sash windows. Inside, the tennis court has a York stone floor with original numbered markings painted on the floor and walls, and sloping roofs over three colonnaded viewing galleries. This building is one of four or five such courts in the country.