Museum Of Bath At Work

MORFORD STREET (east side, off), Museum of Bath at Work

(Formerly Listed as: MORFORD STREET The Former Tennis Court)

24/07/73

GV

II

Former Tennis Court, later brewery, now industrial museum. Built 1777 with C19 additions and C20 alterations. By Richard Scrase on plan provided by Earl of Pembroke. MATERIALS: Limestone rubble with traces of old limewash, freestone quoins; parapeted single-pile pantile roof, gabled to east and west ends. EXTERIOR: Double-height, nine-window front. South elevation has nine C20 tilting windows at high level, pair of C20 plank doors to centre and similar door to right at low level. Evidence that some windows originally longer now raised, and of other possible former openings. Flush quoins to left and right angles. Simple coved cornice at eaves and coped parapet. North elevation has eight C20 4 x 6-pane fixed-light metal windows each with tilting opening section and pair of similar fire escape door, single storey and basement ashlar extension to right with concrete-tile pitched roof with coped verges has C20 door to North, C20 six/six-sash to left return with C20 window to basement, C20 ashlar flat roofed extension, single storey and basement, attached to left of North front. Cavetto cornice along front. Gabled west elevation has blocked round window in gable with blank oval stone plaque over, three blocked windows, three C20 windows and three C20 doors in main range and extension to basement and ground floor. INTERIOR: Adapted for brewery use c1830 when two floors were inserted, later completely reconstructed for museum use (opened 1978). Only the walls remain from the former double-height interior. HISTORY: Apart from the courts at Hampton Court and Merton Street, Oxford, probably the only surviving pre-1800 tennis court.

This asset was previously listed twice. The duplicate record (List entry number 1396349) was removed from the List on 22 February 2019.